Dimakatso Carol Nkomo, known as Dimahr, is a proficient singer and songwriter born and raised in Soweto, a township of the City of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa. An underdeveloped racially segregated urban area which came to the world’s attention on 16 June 1976, when mass protests erupted over the government’s policy to enforce education in Afrikaans. It was the violence and protests in Soweto that left her fatherless at a very young age, as her father, a political activist passed away during the volatile period, a victim of political violence. That would force her family to relocate to Ridgeway, a suburb in the south of Johannesburg.
Her mother made a decision to take Dimahr and her 6 siblings out of Soweto, away from the violence. She raised her children stoically even with the struggles and pain that she had been carrying for years, she raised them well against all odds. It is through seeing these struggles, the vivid memories of the violence they left behind and the loss of her father, that shaped Dimahr into a force that she is today. Music became a therapy for her, an escape that kept her sane. It offered a way of expressing the gratitude she felt for being blessed with such a strong woman who single handedly raised 7 children without complaint. This is what Dimahr’s music expresses. It’s motivational, her lyrics consistently give hope and laden with spiritual wisdom and encouragement. She fuses knowledge, wisdom, melodies and genres into song.
“I grew up listening to all genres of music but I must say Hip Hop and Reggae Dancehall music has always given me a different type of Joy“
Lauren Hill, Jill Scott, TLC, Envouge, Erica Badu are some of the soulful sounds that she listened to and that would greatly influence her style and also focusing on lyrical content. Beenie Man, Sean Paul and Richie Spice are among the artists that would add that dancehall Reggae influence. Infusing these RnB melodies with Reggae Dancehall became her style.
‘I prefer connecting to the beat/melody first, and then allow the creative process to flow lyrically’
Dimakatso has been involved in countless music projects before she became Dimahr. She used to manage artists and freelanced as PR officer for different projects in the arts sector. Then she got into business mode and started operating a small boutique selling kiddies clothes because she has a crazy love for kiddies clothing and also established her kiddies brand called Volcano Kids. Now she only sells on request, because music has taken over most of her time. She also dabbled in the corporate environment working for Multinational companies and she used this period to hone her PR and networking skills.
She met and fell in love with her now husband who is a musician, Botanist Mr. Lamington. She continued to do PR and run the back office for their Record label Concrete Jungle Studios, using the wealth of experience she got while working in the corporate environment and freelancing for other artists. But her husband did not allow her to sit on her talent, he believed in her, he respected her craft, but would not let her stay behind the scenes. She featured on two of Mr. Lamingtons Albums: The award nominated ‘THE SHIFT’ on a track called Tell Me and on ‘Life is a Dancehall.’ on a track called Jah Guide.
He believed in her, but did not push her into coming out as an artist. That happened only by accident when Mr. Lamington received a Riddim that he was supposed to voice. While they were both listening to the Riddim, Dimahr casually said: “I also want to voice this Riddim” He looked at her as said: “Are you sure?” Dimahr grabbed a pen and paper and jotted down the lyrics that were inspired by the beat and together they worked on her first song ‘Can’t Trust None‘ on the infamous Apocalyptic War Riddim produced by Cape Town based producer Jah Link. The Riddim featured heavy weights such as Crosby, Chantty Natural, Diamond White, Daddy Spencer, Juggernaut, Richie Perplex and Mr. Lamington. Dimahr was the only unknown on the list. That made everyone start asking Who is Dimahr?
Dimahr is short for Dimakatso, a name given to her by her husband who even went on to record a single called ‘Queen Name Maki’. Maki is also a common way of shortening Dimakatso in the most affectionate way. Dimahr stuck and felt perfect for a stage name. She is a mother, a wife and singer songwriter with a colorful personality. She draws heavily from her bi-cultural background, her Mother is a Mosotho from Lesotho and her father is Malawian.
Her entire family knew she could sing and have always encouraged her to sing. At every family gathering they would trick her into singing. They noted how she would sing ‘Weekend Special’ , a very popular song by the most popular artist at that time, Brenda Fassie. She would sing that song from start to finish flawlessly. She also sang in church and briefly in High school. Music then, had to take a back seat as she excelled a lot in sports. She got her provincial colors and honors Blazer in Netball. She represented the South Region as Captain in National Netball games, making it on the regional newspaper as the youngest captain of a Netball team. She was also one of the fastest runners in the south. She is a very shy person who still likes to be in the background but would brave it out on the frontlines together with her husband.
After the single ‘Can’t Trust’ which was received very well by ardent listeners of Reggae Dancehall, she felt motivated to do more. Soon after, she followed up with the singles ‘Uptown Girls’ and ‘Spirituality’ cooked in their Concrete Jungle Studios. That was followed by ‘Look Over U’, and ‘Hard to Find’ from a project Called Falling in love Riddim produced by Chicha Music. Dimahr will drop her Debut Album: THE TRUTH on 01 November, 2022