The Xhosa hip hop exponent @iFani_Haymani has emerged from a self-imposed hiatus stronger and bolder.The South African Hip-Hop/Rap artist, MC and TV Presenter, best known for his lyrical abilities and unique styling will be throwing his energies in promoting his second album I Belives In Me (2nd Quadrant) that was released in April 2015.
What many fans do’t know about iFani is that he is a University of Cape Town BSc (Hons) Computer Science and BSc (Computer Engineering) graduate and a former Process Control Engineer. His highlights at UCT include being on the Dean’s Merit List, Top Five Computer Science student, acquiring numerous prestigious scholarships and bursaries, being selected to be part of the Melon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship based in the United States of America, being awarded funds by Merrill Lynch for his outstanding results and going to Emory University in Atlanta, USA for research in hand robotics and graphics. Despite achieving academic success, he chose to follow his calling as a musician and has cemented his name among the best in the country.
He has revamped his wardrobe and dabbled in some fashion therapy that informed his new classic and dapper look.But central to his metamorphosis, are his views on success and happiness.
Recently, iFani has been going around Universities conducting inspirational talks in a project coined #ProjectF2A which aims to change mindsets from failure ‘F’ to success, thinking ‘A’. So far, he has visited Wits University, NMMU, Rhodes, Walter Sisulu University, UKZN and UWC and plans to visit University of Pretoria and University of the Free State.
iFani says he has come to realise that successful people don’t work as hard as we are made to believe. “So where does the success come from? I have found out that it’s happiness that brings you success, we need to be happy with ourselves first and only then money and all our dreams can come to us.”He shares that he’s been mining information from self-help and motivational books that put things into perspective for him.
“I have been studying a lot and I now know that if you don’t know who you are first, then things dont seem to work out for you.
“I started working on myself and stopped chasing success. I looked at the relationships I had, I forgave myself, my mother, my baby mama, friends, enemies and started paying attention more to my feelings and took care of my son more. People who didn’t add value started disappearing from my life.”
iFani says when he took part in Clash of the Choirs it was with a changed outlook on life and he auditioned the hopefuls going with his heart and not the head and logic.
“I was never into the spiritual, I thought of myself as a clever kid from the townships, but now I know better. I try to say things that are good and true to my nature. I know that my words and my thoughts create my reality,” he concludes.
