The KwaZulu-Natal deejay behind the 2021 song of the year said it has been hard dealing with the social media backlash following her historic win.
Hlosiwe Mthalane (24), who goes by the stage name of DJ Hlo, held a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
The briefing was to talk about issues surrounding her song, Isibani, winning Ukhozi FM's Song of The Year (SOTY).
“I have a very strong support system behind me. My family has been very supportive. With all the craziness that's been going on, I know I have that calm when I go back home,” she said.
“Even though there's a lot of backlash on social media, there are also people that are rooting for me at the same time so I chose to focus on the positive comments.”
DJ Hlo trended on social media when her song was played as the crossover song on Ukhozi FM at midnight on New Year's Eve.
Many people on social media expressed their displeasure, saying that her song was relatively unknown compared to other songs on the top 10 list.
Hlosiwe "Dj Hlo" Mthalane explains how she is dealing with the criticism on social media following her win of Ukhozi FM song of the year.
— Thabiso Goba (@ThabisoGoba2) January 5, 2022
"There are people who are rooting for me, so I'm just focusing on the positives."@WitnessKZN pic.twitter.com/kPdBXXkynn
However, Mthalane said it was through intensive campaigning that she was able to win.
SOTY on Ukhozi FM is decided through a voting process.
Mthalane’s song received 214 966 votes, 70 000 more than the second placed song.
“I started campaigning (for votes) the day I released Isibani (around October), telling people to please download the track and check out the video,” she said.
“When I was nominated on Ukhozi FM's Top 10 songs list, I carried on campaigning, I didn't stop. I went to numerous places, taxi ranks, everywhere to ask for votes from people. I feel like it was well deserved and the people who wanted my song to win, did that by voting for it.”
