MAVERIQ'S debut album is called IGUBU. To quote Vukile Pokwana, former editor or Rootz Africa Magazine, Igubu "churns out sounds that arc, twist and moan. The melodies ,thump and writing are the strength of this outing... Igubu is a streak of random selections of anarchy, gritty township vibes, chug-a-long and township commentary that runs seamlessly like a tour de force."

Artist Profile

Full Name: Mavo Jokazi
Known As: Maveriq
Birth Date: 25 June 1973

Artist Biography

Mavo is a South African poet and musician best known to his audiences as the lead of his band “Maveriq” (MVRQ). This band has been around for 3 years.

Mavo has been influenced by the likes of Mahlatini (mbaqanga), the Wailers (reggae), Michael Jackson (pop) and Stimela (soul), just to name a few. By listening to these artists he has come up with a masterpiece sound that is soulful, jazzy, lively and African at the same time. This music celebrates our heritage.

His latest release is his debut album called Igubu and it is available at selected music stores.

Here's a short resume of MVRQ performances:

March 2007 Goemarati Live and audio – visual performance, Langa , Cape Town
April 2007 Tomecy festival performance, Ikhwezi Centre, Gugulethu , Cape Town
June 2006 - Oppiestoep Spier Hotel performance
June 2006 - Friday & Saturday gigs at Mannenbergs Jazz Café, where he shared the stage with Dorothy Masuku
July 2006 – MVRQ Cultural Festival Performance, Ikhwezi Centre , Gugulethu
September – November 2006 MVRQ performance at Moyo at Spier
November 2006 Bambanani’s Age of Hope anti-crime initiative, in Harare , Khayelitsha , C.T
December 2006 MVRQ performance at Spier Summer Festival sharing the stage & series with the likes of Salif Keita, Thandiswa Mazwai

For more detailed information about the artist please contact
Iain Harris +2721 424 3572

From another angle...

MAVERIQ is a band from Cape Town. They have been around for three years now. Three years is a short time in music. They have one album out, it's called IGUBU. Joe Menell loves it. Sbongile too, but he doesn't understand Xhosa. All the songs are in Xhosa. Bulelwa Junior got her groove on big time when she saw them perform at Goemarati. And Nox thinks they will blow up large in Jozi. All in good time...

"If you are original," says Mavo, "then things will happen. It's easy to copy. It's hard to create. It takes guts sbali. It takes patience."

Here's the PR.

Maveriq is terrific. Bluesy. Jazzy. Pop. Straight up. Township perspectives and jams. With just a little nostalgia. But not much. It's warm. You haven't heard it before. Mavo says, "welcome to this genre". He means this is something you haven't heard before. In short, mamela sbali, Maveric is hot. Look Sharp.

The debut album, IGUBU, is a nine track teaser. It's selling lekker and getting some radio play. The first single off the album, Dali, has also featured on the TV. We made a pretty good music video. Akin Omotoso liked it and so did his friends. Actually a lot of people liked it. It was okay. Now we are working on the video for the second single. It's called Sbanxa Sonke.