Athenkosi “Internet Athi” Cetyana has already sold out both shows of his inaugural live performance in the Friendly City.
The Cape Town-based Wena hitmaker will be performing on February 12 and 13 at The One Room in Central, aiming to create an atmosphere of romance ahead of Valentine’s Day.
Cetyana, who intends using the performances to pay tribute to the late Feya Faku, said he was astonished at how quickly the tickets sold out.
“I am looking to pay tribute to Bra Feya, because it is his home and he is someone that I look up to.
“I am excited to perform at The One Room; it is a home for the arts.
“The reception we received forced us to have a second show. [It] quickly sold out while we were preparing to canvass for the show.”
Known for his intimate live sessions, Cetyana described his style of music as a blend of neo-soul, SA jazz and R&B.
“This show opened my eyes that there is a scene in Gqeberha that likes this kind of music that we are making.
“It makes me trust the direction that I am taking right now, because it is not really safe with the rise of amapiano.
“I blend my style of music using live performance — that is the focus of the sound that I am trying to get out.
“Just because it is live it does not mean it will be jazz, but you will find all these elements.”
The singer-songwriter said fans could expect plenty of new music from him this year.
“I have three singles; they will be my lead singles in my debut album called Polymorphism and we are looking to release it in March at the latest.
“It took me a year and a half to record the album.
“I finished the majority of the album in 2024 when I released Wena and finished the rest in 2025.”
Cetyana, who is from a musical family, said the album was a full circle moment for him as an independent artist.
“It has taken me eight years to come to this point of having this sound; the eight years is more about having the infrastructure to record this way.
“For me it was the independence part so that I could build the infrastructure to create my music.
“I did not want certain rules in how I would tell these stories in this album.
“Some of the challenges were funding; we had to do fundraisers and from my performances I took money to record, which made it take a while.
“As well as getting the right band members, it was a trial and error until we found the right people to nail the sound,” Cetyana said.
He said his inspiration for his songs came from lived experiences.
“I talk about being black in SA, the politics that make us have those emotions.
“I grew up in the location in Khayelitsha. My parents are from Cofimvaba and Ngcobo so we would go to the villages in December.
“In the album I talk about my late father, who was a source of inspiration.
“The storytelling is a way to really make sense of how my life has unfolded as a black person in SA,” Cetyana said.
