With Olwethu regularly walking into the office with her daily soundtrack being “Welcome”, there was no doubt that she would brief us that we review the album “Fears & Fantasies”… and so it was.

Not only did he take his father’s name ‘Chalmers’, Rudy also inherited his intelligence, grit, and charisma. ‘’Sithenkosi Mbuli, son of the late broadcaster Vuyo Mbuli is about to take the music industry by storm,’’ – Olwethu Leshabane

His new sound of music is a blend of soul and Hip Hop. ‘’You should be the best that you can be,’’ he shares that his mother Savita Mbuli doesn’t tolerate mediocrity. He gives credit to his parents for being his biggest influencers in life generally, and attributes his taste in music to them. 

However, Rudy does feel the pressure to produce quality music that his mother finds palatable. Perhaps that’s why this 20 year old’s sound appealed to Olwethu’s ear.

His mother, Savita Mbuli has made a name for herself in the South African Media sphere, and she always gives constructive criticism whenever she listens to Rudy’s songs. ‘’Maybe you should change this and that,’’ Rudy relays his mom’s words. She  always gives feedback whenever she listens to his songs.

Rudy is currently doing his 3rd year of BA Politics and Philosophy at the University of Cape Town. He shares that his debut album “Fears & Fantasies” speaks to the place that he’s in right now, and he knows a lot of young people with big dreams and fantasies that cause fear in them. ‘’The balance of the fear and fantasy is super necessary because without the fear, you’re never going to be nervous enough to keep yourself honest, and without fantasising you’re never going to keep yourself going,’’ he continued to elaborate. 

We asked our resident Hip Hop enthusiast Josh Njoloza and he said that, ‘’In this album, Rudy takes us on his own personal journey in music and has managed to make each track connect to the next seamlessly. You can hear the influence that South African Jazz has had on him, which he credits his father in the first track of his album Welcome.’’

BEATMAKER, a producer who has produced numerous hit records, had a lot to say about Rudy’s album, ‘’Despite me thinking that with experienced A&R or Executive Production, Rudy would have had a shot of creating a body of work that will join a long list of South African greats quite rapidly, the young man put in the work with a pen, and was definite and very brave with his vision and that for me, is a making of a great artist. My favourite song on the album is Soul with Angel & Keir. I look forward to observing how the audience reacts to his expression of Fears & Fantasies.’’

When Olwethu asked him what is scaring him most at the moment, he expressed that “The road is beginning to clear up and I feel like I am living my dream.” Fears & Fantasies is available on all digital platforms. In the interim, Rudy Chalmers has his eyes set on performing at Rocking the Daisies and hopefully Afropunk. We have no doubt that he’ll conquer both stages and win more fans along the way.