His music career started professionally in 2019, when he produced his first EP ‘Erovert’. He was inspired by the neo soul musician Maxwell. It was with his first EP titled,’Erovert: The Personality of Love’in 2019, that Mannie partially conceived the idea of the MNSTRY of Love. He was influenced by one of his favourite books titled ‘1984’ by George Orwell. (Spoiler Alert) In this book, George Orwell talks about the Ministry of Love, which promotes the love of Big Brother/the state, by oppressing people. So basically, Mannie took a negative “Ministry of Love”and turned the name into a positive. Mannie literally intends to empower people with the power of music & love in his songs. The messages in his songs all come from a real place of love & pain.
In 2020, the ‘Prisoner of Love’ LP became Mannie’s second creative musical project. The title came about when Mannie felt like he was limited to writing songs about love. Hence the title ‘Prisoner of Love’. He formed the band ‘MNSTRY of Love’. Together with his “fans”, They are the love movement. His friends and fans are the Ministers. They are part of his Ministry. Mannie Motsoela writes music in different textures, so it is not quite simple to group him under one genre, but he has been told that his sound is more like Alternative R&B, Soul, Pop, & Soft Rock. This movement is not just about Mannie. It’s not just a brand. It’s a lifestyle & the Ministers who are more than just Mannie’s “fans”. Mannie has also been inspired by artists such as Vangelis, Linkin Park, The Beatles, K-Os, Donell Jones, Maxwell, 2Pac, Radiohead, Brian Wilson & Marques Houston to name a few.
Mannie is thankful for his past relationship experiences, which propelled him to come up with the MNSTRY of Love & his songs that he has written. Mannie realises that some people believe that love can be difficult. However, Mannie truly believes that love is the greatest commandment, and that love is simple and people are complicated, paraphrasing a quote from his song ‘Love vs. People’, on the album ‘Prisoner of Love’.
If Mannie could recommend one song from his new EP (MNSTRY of Love) to represent him it would be “We All Need Love” because in that song, Mannie
attempts to write about the importance of love, sort of like John Lennon’s song titled “Love” from his album, ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ & Marvin Gaye’s “Everybody Needs Love” from his album ‘Here, My Dear’. Mannie has choosen not to sing on his musical projects because he wishes to promote up and coming talented vocalists as well as some musicians.
