\u201cSoul music is memories, it\u2019s everyday life, it\u2019s easy to consume. I think it\u2019s that the soul, the spirit, resides in Africa so soul music here could also mean the beating of a drum because that\u2019s how we invoke our soul,\u201d Mazwai told BET International on what defines the African sound.<\/p>\n
Born in the Eastern Cape, Mazwai\u2019s formative years and early youth were spent living in Soweto with her siblings and parents. During the 1970s and 1980s, her mother and father were journalists and anti-apartheid activists who raised their children surrounded by books, journals and discussions on politics. It is these texts that would later influence the kind of artist she would become.<\/p>\n
The former Bongo Maffin lead singer, affectionately known King Tha, later enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and English Literature, inspired mainly by her late mother, Belede Mazwai, who passed away when the singer was 15 years old. Mazwai\u2019s influences included anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, political philosopher Frantz Fanon, Ghanaian politician Kwame Nkrumah and Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe.<\/p>\n
In a recent sit down interview with Unpopular Opinion the artist spoke about the healing properties of music and how her approach to song creation is both unique and most times unintentional.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe processes are different for every album. Nothing is ever deliberate. Making art for me is one step in front of the next. You don\u2019t begin with a full art work, you begin with one stroke and then you go. And you ask what else can I do until it\u2019s a full picture,\u201d says the mother-of-one.<\/p>\n
Following five albums with Bongo Maffin, the lead singer embarked on her solo career releasing Zabalaza in 2004 as her first solo project named after the compilation\u2019s lead single. The 15-track record infused various sounds from Kwaito, Mbaqanga, traditional Xhosa music, reggae and gospel scoring the musician a South African Music Award for Female Artist of the Year in 2005 and cementing her solo career.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were doing Zabalaza, Sipho Sithole was the producer so he assumed the full spectrum of that role and I assumed the vocalist and songwriter (roles) and then I would do the lyrics. I had just came out of making a lot of Kwaito music, alot of Afro pop music so I really didn\u2019t want it to sound like any of that stuff, but I wasn\u2019t sure what I wanted it to sound like .Sipho was great in that he was willing try a few different things before we arrived at that one thing where I was like \u2018this is it\u2019,\u201d Mazwai said.<\/p>\n
After selling out her A Letter To Azania show in Johannesburg and Durban she is finally bringing the performance to Cape Town. The production taking place at The Artscape Theatre is curated as a note Mazwai journeys through about the land of freedom, Azania, which she says \u201ctakes the audience on a sonic exploration of the utopian idea of Azania while expressing the melancholy that comes with a dream deferred\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe revolution is driven by great feelings of love,\u201d spoken by Cuban revolutionist Ch\u00e9 Guevara and the opening words of the show to which Mazwai adds \u201ca love for the people, a love for country, and a love for justice. They form the basis for what the production is about using audio visual elements to stimulate imagination and explore history while moulding a new world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Calling Thandiswa Mazwai a soulful musician feels like an understatement. Mazwai\u2019s vocal depth, riveting lyrics and her ability to embed indigenous instruments, melodies and harmonies in her songs is nothing short of quintessential. Her performances are a spiritual experience that reflect on the past, evaluate the present and explore the hopes of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":26204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[7,14,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-26207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-music","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"yoast_head":"\n