Chart-topping singer and songwriter Jimmy Nevis amped it up as The Masked Singer South Africa’s Boombox
After twelve weeks of electrifying performances on The Masked Singer South Africa’s spectacular second season, the semi-final celebrity reveal was a shocker – especially for three of the show’s distinguished detectives.
Only detective J’Something guessed correctly that singer-songwriter, producer and businessman Jimmy Nevis was bringing on the beat as the mystery celebrity singing contest’s Boombox. Somizi Mhlongo, Sithelo Shozi and Skhumba Hlophe all had their wires crossed, identifying the high-voltage masked performer as Idols Season 9 runner-up Brenden Praise.
Although Boombox bamboozled the entire “forensic team” during his show debut, J’Something hit the nail on the head the second time Boombox set the stage alight. From then onwards, the MiCasa frontman built his Boombox / Jimmy Nevis case round after round until the live-wire masked singer’s journey identity was finally unplugged in the semi-final.
Boombox blasted onto The Masked Singer South Africa with a baffling clue package and powerful, perfectly balanced rendition of John Legend’s “Tonight“.
Leading into his debut performance, Boombox introduced himself in a video shot in a grunge-style environment with colourful graffiti and the show’s wacky “men and ladies” spray-painting some slogans. That’s when Boombox revealed he had skyscraper dreams before lifting people off their seats, amplifying this clue by enrolling a massive construction building plan. The detectives also heard that despite mostly keeping to himself, Boombox showed off when it was time to show up.
And he did! J’Something instantly knew from how he belted out the song that Boombox was a muso. Still, the construction clue and graffiti put J’Something on the wrong track. J’Something locked in comedian Donovan Goliath, who climbed the corporate ladder as an advertising art director before getting people off their seats with his jokes.
Meanwhile, Sithelo, Skhumba and Somizi realised their first impressions of Boombox were off the mark. Despite his swag and the sound mixer on his shoulders, they concluded that Boombox was not a DJ but an introvert with an amazing voice who loved music. Sithelo chose actor Loyiso McDonald, Somizi picked investigative journalist McFarlane Moleli, and Skhumba put forward Brenden Praise, the name Somizi and Sithelo would later latch onto.
But when Boombox returned for round two of the crazy celebrity guessing game, J’Something caught Boombox’s frequency. While performing “Hold On” by Drake, J’Something shouted confidently, “I know this guy!” Being a musician himself, he recognised Boombox’s distinct tone, and from this moment onwards, all of Boombox’s clues ticked J’Something’s Jimmy Nevis boxes.
However, Skhumba and Sithelo’s analysis of the same clues pointed to Brenden Praise, and they sang from this same hymn sheet from this round until the end.
The clues used by Boombox throughout the season to drum up the mystery alluded that he lived in Cape Town but was a city boy who loved travelling to the countryside. He also revealed that he ran a foundation with some of his best friends since community work was in his Boombox DNA. Furthermore, Boombox launched his career as a teenager with the support of his loving Boombox family, who called him by his real name from the Bible’s New Testament.
Apparently, one of Boombox’s career highlights was “being in the presence of some of the most glamorous talent in the country“, and besides several mentions of having something in common with Kenny G and the Black Eyed Peas.
For J’Something, this all added up, confirming his suspicion of Jimmy Nevis being Boombox. Kenny G performed at Jimmy’s favourite venue, Kirstenbosch Gardens, and the event where Boombox rubbed shoulders with famous personalities was the SAMAs. Jimmy also wrote a song about his Athlone community called “ATL“. J’Something even decoded a pizza box in one of the clue packages correctly. It did not signify Boombox’s love for pizza but one of Jimmy’s chart-topping songs, “Hard Boxing“, with “box” being the key.
When Boombox’s dad made an incognito appearance on the show, covering his face with a book titled “Pray“, J’Something also called out Boombox’s father as Athlone’s beloved “Pastor Nevis“.
Whilst J’Something stuck to Jimmy Nevis, and Skumba and Sithelo countered with Brenden Praise, Somizi’s guesses varied from performance to performance. Boombox’s version of “Lovin’ On Me” by Jack Harlow reminded Somizi of Brenden, who he personally saw “booming and boxing” on Idols. But then all the clues preluding “Paradise Road” suggested that Boombox was unapologetically Christian. So, Somizi reverted to Loyiso Bala.
Then, Boombox’s robot dance moves and hitting the high notes on the Amapiano song “Encimbini” convinced Somizi that it could only be Brenden behind the mask. The same applied to Boombox’s performance of Tyla’s Gen Z hit “Truth or Dare” in the semi-final.
Truth is: Jimmy was indeed Boombox, which had J’Something beaming:
“I’m such a fan of this guy because of his tone, and his ability to write incredible music that even shines through a mask.”
Jimmy describes his experience on The Masked Singer South Africa as nothing but fun:
“I mean, who doesn’t want to dress up in strange costumes and dance like you’re dancing in your room and nobody can see you?”
With Boombox’s journey being short-circuited by the studio audience’s vote just before the upcoming finale of note, the four remaining cloak-and-dagger singers who will battle it out to win the Golden Mask Trophy are Blue Crane, Owl, Giraffe and Gold in the finale on S3 on Saturday, 29 June at 18:30.
The Masked Singer South Africa is screened on Saturdays at 18:30 on S3 (formerly known as SABC 3) with rebroadcasts on SABC 1 on Thursdays at 21:00, as well as on S3 on Fridays at 22:00.
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