The Soundtrack to Self-Belief: How Malibongwe Khoza Stays Grounded Amid Football's Rising Expectations

As part of Apple Music's new The Warm Up series, some of Africa's most exciting footballers are sharing the music that accompanies them before they step onto the pitch. Through a collection of curated playlists, the campaign offers a glimpse into the songs that help athletes focus, reflect, reset and prepare for the demands of elite competition.

For rising star, Malibongwe Khoza, however, music isn't simply part of a pre-match routine. It's part of how he navigates life. The Mamelodi Sundowns defender is one of South African football's most promising young talents but spend a few minutes speaking to him and it becomes clear that his story isn't simply about football. It's about belief, family, and remaining grounded while your world changes around you.

Ask him what feels different compared to the player he was a few years ago and he doesn't immediately talk about trophies, appearances or international opportunities. Instead, he talks about attention. "Obviously, the attention is different," he says. "When I am walking around the streets, it's a bit different. People look at me different now and not the person that I was before."

It's the kind of adjustment many young athletes experience as their careers begin to accelerate. Suddenly, success comes with visibility. Visibility comes with expectation. And expectation can often create the feeling that everyone is watching. "In your mind, you think that everyone is watching you," he admits. "Every move that you do, everything that you do, they're watching you."

For Khoza, one of the biggest lessons has been learning how to stay connected to himself amid all that noise. And that starts with family. Throughout our conversation, he returns to the same people again and again: his parents. Whether he's speaking about success, pressure, motivation or ambition, family remains at the centre of the story. "Most of the time I'm with my parents," he says. "They know my highs and my lows." It's a recurring theme that helps explain much of his perspective. Football has never felt like an individual pursuit.

When Khoza was recently included in Apple Music's campaign alongside some of South Africa's most established footballers, he didn't frame it as a personal achievement. "It's a special moment, not only for me, but for my parents," he says. "It's a dream for me and it became something that's here that I can work on. It's a dream for my parents, for the people who are looking up to me, the kids at home. So, I think it's a dream for all."

That collective mindset also shapes how he experiences pressure. Footballers are often asked about handling expectations, but Khoza's relationship with pressure feels different. Growing up within the Mamelodi Sundowns development structures, pressure wasn't something that suddenly arrived with professional football. It was introduced early. "I've been in Sundowns infrastructure for long," he explains. "When you grow up and when you go to the reserve teams, you start feeling the pressure." Over time, it became familiar. The expectation to perform, to win, and to keep improving.

Today, he views pressure less as something to overcome and more as something that comes with the territory. "It's something that I grew up with," he says. "It's been in me." That perspective was tested further when he recently had the opportunity to compete internationally in Germany, an experience that offered a chance to measure himself against players operating at the highest level.

For many young footballers, those moments can expose the distance between where they are and where they hope to be. Khoza came away with a different realization. "When you're inside the field and when you're playing, you're not far off from them," he says. "Anything is possible."

Being in conversation with Khoza you quickly learn that beneath the calm exterior lies a player who has quietly believed in himself for a very long time. That confidence surfaces again later when he's asked what would surprise the 15-year-old version of himself if he could see his life today. He doesn’t hesitate with his answer. "Nothing." Not because he lacks appreciation for how far he's come. But because, in his mind, this was always part of the plan. "I knew that I was going to play for Sundowns at some point," he says. "They won the Champions League, and I said I wanted to win the Champions League. Today I have the Champions League with them."

It is perhaps the clearest window into the mentality that has carried him this far. Not arrogance, not entitlement, but simply belief. And when that belief is tested, music often becomes the thing that helps him reconnect with it. "Music is life," he says. For Khoza, music exists beyond football. It accompanies celebrations, disappointments, long drives home and quiet moments of reflection. "It doesn't matter how you feel. You're sad, you're happy, you're doing well in life, you're doing bad in life. It's going to play a part in your life."

That emotional connection forms the foundation of the playlist he curated for Apple Music's The Warm Up campaign. Among the artists featured on his playlist are Drake, Gunna, A-Reece, Sjava and Dave, each representing different moments and emotions throughout his journey. One song in particular stands out for him. Dave's The Boy Who Played The Harp. The track became a companion during a period when Khoza felt caught between progress and uncertainty. "My career was going high, but at the same time I felt like it was going down," he reflects. The song's emotional weight stayed with him both on and off the field. "Whenever I'm driving home after training, I listen to that song. The emotion and the energy played a big role."

Today, another song occupies a similarly important place in his life. Drake's Redemption. Following an injury that interrupted his momentum and affected his opportunities at national team level, the song has become a source of motivation. "I've been doing well and my career is going up and up and up," he says. "But recently I've encountered challenges." Rather than dwelling on setbacks, he sees them as part of the process. "This song pushes me every day to get that redemption that I want."

Elsewhere on the playlist are tracks from Gunna, an artist Khoza credits with providing the soundtrack to one of the standout performances of his early career. He recalls listening to a newly released Gunna album before a national team tournament in Uganda, where he went on to deliver a Man of the Match performance. "I wanted to go smash that game," he says. "I think I made a statement in that game."

Taken together, the playlist feels less like a collection of favourite songs and more like a collection of milestones. Each track marks a different chapter, a different challenge, and a different version of Malibongwe Khoza.

And while football remains the foundation, it is clear that he sees his future extending beyond the pitch. He speaks enthusiastically about fashion, creativity, content creation and building a personal brand that allows people to see more than just the footballer. "I want people to get to know me better." Ten years from now, he hopes people remember more than the trophies and performances. "I'd like to be remembered as a legend," he says. "A player who expressed himself." Not only through football. Through fashion. Through music. Through the way he carried himself.

For now, though, his focus remains firmly on the journey ahead. And if Apple Music's The Warm Up playlist offers any insight into where that journey is headed, it's this: behind the rising football star is a young man whose greatest strength may not be his talent alone, but the unwavering belief that he belongs exactly where he is.

Listen to Malibonwe’s The Warm Up playlist here:

Credits:

Agency: DNA Brand Architects

Brand: Apple Music

Cover Star: Malibonwe Khoza

Photography: Katlego Mokubyane

Editor-in-Chief: Caron Kganyago

Senior Associate Architect: Monare Matema

Senior Associate Architect: Luyanda Mhlongo

Brand Architect: Kamohelo Sebudi

Writer: Sizwe Tshabalala

Production & Styling Assistant: Amahle Sangqu

Production Assistant: Siyabonga Mzolo

Cover Design: Ronnie Motswaledi

Make-up: Caroline Greef

Grooming: The Mobile Barbershop

Sourcing: Rich Mnisi, Boys of Soweto, Kasi Flavour, H&M