Thato Madonsela (born January 30, 1982), better known by his stage name L-Tido, is a South African hip hop recording artist from Alexandra, Johannesburg. He is best known for being one of the few independent artists in the country to reach commercial success, winning the Best Newcomer in Africa award at the 2010 Channel O Music Video Awards (an honour he received without having released an album) and receiving numerous other award nominations. 　　L-Tido's music career began in 2009 when he self-released, self-marketed and hand-to-hand distributed his mixtape City of Gold. It received a lot of acclaim, with a number of songs being played on several radio stations and topping numerous radio and music video charts. The success of the mixtape lead to award nominations and the winning of Channel O's Most Gifted Newcomer award.