Interview

Aug. 16, 2019 06:43AM EST

Courtesy of Amanda Black.

In Conversation with Amanda Black: 'I've grown incredibly from the girl who wrote 'Amazulu''

The South African artist speaks about what she learnt from her debut album, being back in the studio and her challenge to South Africans this Women's Month.

Amanda Black burst onto the South African music scene with her debut album, Amazulu, back in 2016. The Afrosoul album, which included the hit songs "Amazulu", "Kahle" and "Sinazo", did incredibly well, and four years after its release, is still one of the highest streamed albums in South Africa. Then 23-years-old, Amanda Black sent shockwaves throughout the music industry with her seamless ability to create relatable anthems to which the whole country was singing along.

Following the release of her debut album, she went on to collaborate with a number of South African musicians including Sjava and Vusi Nova. "I do", the laid-back and dreamy track which she worked on with LaSauce, had South Africans undeniably in their feels for months on end. At the 2017 South African Music Awards (SAMAs), Amanda Black showed everyone that she'd been in top form the previous year and went on to take home the awards for "Album of the Year", "Best Newcomer of the Year," "Best Female Artist of the Year" and "Best R&B Soul/Reggae Album." She was also nominated for BET's "Viewers' Choice: Best International Act" in the same year.

Amanda Black has set her sights not only on becoming a musician of note in the country or on the continent, but the world as well. Earlier this year in February, she dropped the single "Thandwa Ndim" ahead of her upcoming album, Power, which drops at the beginning of October. Alongside the likes Shekhinah, Sho Madjozi, Lady Zamar and Simmy, Amanda Black is currently one of the most streamed women artists in South Africa and has been highlighted by Apple Music as part of their Visionary Women campaign.

We caught up with her to talk about her upcoming album, the inevitable pressure that comes with releasing a sophomore album as successful as its predecessor and what changes fans can expect in her new music.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You've had a tremendous amount of success with your debut album Amazulu. Close to three years later, what would you say about that body of work?

I put a lot of my heart into it. I remember when I was making the project and telling some of my stories, I had to relive some of the things that I went through. I had to go back in my mind and try and remember certain feelings. I had to try and remember how I felt when I got my heart broken, but at the same time, the journey songs were also where I had to remember where I was coming from, and my hopes and dreams before that. So I was really, really proud. I'm still so proud of Amazulu. I never actually anticipated the success that came with it. I had no expectations once, because it was my first project. My only hope was that people would like it.

What are some of the current musical projects that you're working on?

I'm actually working on my sophomore album and that is going to be released later this year. It's dropping on the fourth of October. I have a date already. The title of the album is Power.

Is there any pressure to produce an album that is as successful as Amazulu?

Yeah, like a lot. I've heard a lot about the sophomore slump. I've felt a lot of pressure because of the success of Amazulu. I've had people coming to me and saying, "How are you going to top Amazulu?". I'm like, "Please guys, can I just make music?" I had to remove myself from that so I can make the music, you know? There's always that pressure of making the next big song, but I've had to remove myself from it so that I can make the music that I want to make.

Amanda Black - Amazulu (Official Video)www.youtube.com

Besides the success of your debut album, what would you say has been different with you being back in the studio and working on the second album?

I'm different, for one. Even the way I write is different. It's not like completely different, but I just feel like I've grown. Three years later, as a twenty-three-year-old, who was experiencing and writing Amazulu. I've grown from that girl. I've grown from that person. As much as people will compare, I'm also comparing myself to myself. Like yeah, "Okay, that one was great. How did I make that one?", and then the self-doubt creeps in. I listen to those choruses and think, "Can I even write anymore?" I did the whole thing of being in album mode. It puts so much mental pressure on you and the challenge is now literally going through the writing block. That's one of the challenges that I have encountered.

Would you say that your sound has stayed the same or do you sense an evolution?

I've experienced new things, new challenges and new emotions as I'm going along so the sound has evolved but has also stayed Amanda Black. Music changes, music evolves, music grows—grows really fast these days. The times are also changing, you know? What people are listening to, the sound that I'm also influenced by, are not necessarily the same sounds I was influenced by three years ago. When you hear the next project, you will hear the difference and the growth as well.

Amanda Black - Thandwa Ndimwww.youtube.com

What are some of the artists that you're looking forward to working with in the future?

There's a lot of people who I respect right now, respecting their artistry and them just being genuine people. I'm like, "Yes, I want to work with them". Definitely Anatii, I'm really loving his vibe right now. Shekhinah as well, I love her. Africa is like crazy with talent. I love what's happening in the music space, where we are all now collaborating with each other and basically just becoming one. It's incredible.

Apple Music has highlighted you as one of the most streamed women artists in South Africa. How does that acknowledgement feel?

It's incredible. Some people may know what I've been through, where I live and the challenges that I've been through in the past two years during this sort of quiet time. A lot has been happening emotionally and psychologically when I wasn't releasing anything. I felt I was being quiet and feeling a little bit forgotten. I was incredibly overwhelmed seeing Apple releasing the most streamed album in four years and I was there; Amazulu was there. For me, that was such validation. That's what I take away from it. I'm like, "Yeah, I'm here, I'm still here". So that was incredible. I'm so overwhelmed by that, being among such great women who I respect and admire like Shekhinah, for instance.

You've created a playlist for Apple Music. Tell us about that.

I have a couple of new songs and new artists that I really love to listen to and who also inspire me. They're all the friends that I grew up listening to, the songs that inspired me to do what I'm now doing. The playlist has a couple of my favorite songs from women who I really adore.

Listen to Amanda Black's playlist on Apple Music.

South African women are in crisis in this country. Personally, and as an artist, what do you want to be the focus for this Women's Month?

I feel a month is just not enough. I think what's also part of the problem and hypocritical of us to do is to simply wait for August to celebrate women while also not actually implementing changes in terms of gender-based violence and stuff that South African women are going through. We just make it so pretty, everything is pink. In my space, there are so many shows that are named after women, but the money doesn't even go to women or women initiatives.

"Women in the country need to be a priority and I feel, they sort of come after a lot of things."

That's my opinion. But I'm also actively, like I said, trying to help. A year ago, I started trying to do a pad drive where I donate pads to schools. At the moment, I'm still pretty much doing it on my own, and I'm in the process of planning to get sponsorship and doing it on a larger scale and more frequently. There is a problem and there are people who have the power to just basically fix the problem, but it's going to take a long time for us to get there.

What are you looking forward to most at this point in your music career?

Musically, I obviously want to grow. I want to become a continental songwriter and vocalist. I'm also just working on myself, basically to become a better musician. I also want to take my music globally. I want to be the voice of the voiceless because I do believe my music speaks for people that can't speak for themselves.

amanda black south africa amazulu power music

News Brief

Photo by Cindy Ord for Getty

Trevor Noah Wins Prestigious Erasmus Prize

Trevor Noah is the first comic to win the prestigious Erasmus Prize since Charlie Chaplin in 1965.

Famous South African comic Trevor Noah has won the prestigious Erasmus Prize from The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. The award is named after Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus' most famous piece of work.

According to a statement from The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, Noah was receiving the prize “for his inspired contribution to the theme ‘In Praise of Folly,’ named after Erasmus’s most famous book, which is filled with humor, social criticism, and political satire.” (Desiderius Erasmus was an influential Dutch philosopher from the northern Renaissance era.)

Noah is the first comic since 1965 who has been awarded the honor. The last comic to win the prize was Charlie Chaplin, who received the recognition in 1965. Since 1958, The Erasmus Prize has been awarded to recipients recognized for many achievements, including literature, music, philosophy, and social activism. Some notable recipients who have received the award in the past include Jorge Luis Borges, Isaiah Berlin, Ingmar Bergman, and Amartya Sen.

The panel that selects awardees for the prize includes a committee of scholars and cultural experts who review nominations and recommend to the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation after weighing in on the strength of each candidate. After the recommendation, it is up to the board to make the final decision on the award recipient. The prize is typically awarded in the fall during a ceremony in the Dutch royal palace in Amsterdam.

Beyond his work as a comic, the former Daily Show host has been vocal about his social justice advocacy and has been a strong advocate for human rights issues on a broad scale. While a host on The Daily Show, he consistently used his voice to highlight other prominent Africans. It is safe to say that the 39-year-old has indeed made South Africa proud.

Music

Photo Credit: Sjava

Sjava: The Man In the Mirror

Breaking down the South African hip hop artist’s latest album, Isibuko.

Sjava’s third studio album Isibuko raked in more than 7.7 million streams in its first week. This was done without a lead single, just a well-planned and well-executed rollout and a loyal and ever-growing fanbase that had last heard from the BET Award-winning artist in 2021 with his previous project, Umsebenezi.

Isibuko is Sjava’s most personal album to date. Sjava lays his vulnerabilities bare. “Till today, my life is a mess, because of what I do. I was happier before I put out the music,” the South African artist is heard saying in the album’s trailer. “But now I’m happy because I finally understand that it doesn’t matter what another person says.”

Through a Broken Mirror

The album's trailer reveals a man in the process of self-reflection. Isibuko’s provenance was a minor accident. “I bought this mirror at Game,” Sjava said, explaining the album title is IsiZulu for “mirror,” during the album’s listening session in Rosebank, Joburg. “But then when I was walking down the stairs, I dropped it and it broke. But it was still in its packaging, so I just kept it as is. I would look at myself every time when I was getting ready, checking out my swag nam’ saying. And where I live, it’s quiet, so sometimes I’d just look at myself in that mirror and just think.”

From that reflection was born the concept of Sjava taking a moment to examine himself. “So,” he says, “I decided, let me make this album, an album for someone who will listen to it by themselves and it speaks to them. The music you play when you’re alone is usually not what everybody plays. I wanted to create that kind of music.”

Sjava - Isibuko (Album Trailer)youtu.be

“This is an album you can listen to when you are at home on your own or you are driving, music that will uplift you. Whenever you feel like a failure, you have a song that will encourage you, tell you that you are just pushing pressure on yourself, you are on the right track.”

The last sentence is a quote of the hook to the poignant “Amavaka,” a song on Isibuko where Sjava speaks of disliking who he sees in the mirror. “Ngay'buka es'bukweni ngay'zonda / Ngathi, ‘uwena omosh' impilo yami,’ ngaz'khomba,” (which directly translates to: “I looked myself in the mirror, and hated myself, and said, ‘you are the one who’s messing up my life’”) he sings as a lo-fi instrumental hisses under his hoarse alto.

YouTube Lo-Fi Beats

The lo-fi production is one of the elements that set Isibuko apart from Sjava’s previous three projects — Isina Muva (2015), Umqhele (2018), Umsebenzi (2021) — which were almost exclusively produced by his long-time producer Ruff. About 30% of Isibuko was produced by lo-fi producers Webmoms and Delayde who are both from the U.K.

Sjava found their music while listening to lo-fi beats on YouTube after a stressful day, he says. Some beats caught his attention. “I saw the names, went on IG and DM’d them saying, ‘I’m Sjava from SA, I fuck with your shit.’ I sent them links to my music, they liked what they heard, they sent me a beat and "Umcebo" was born.”

He recalls having one beat on loop as he drove and started freestyling what would later become “Grounding,” a song about a conversation between Sjava and his mother, who is asking him to settle down and get married. Sjava lets his mother know that the game today is different from dating during her time. “Uthando lwamanje sel’hlukile, lugcwele udlame (love today, is violent),” he sings.

Sjava #Isibuko Live Medleyyoutu.be

Webmoms and Delayed also produced “Ubuhle Bendalo,” a song about the necessity for humans to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city and reconnect with nature and their roots. “We went to Emtshezi on a camp,” says Sjava, “I was just walking around and the chorus came.”

Webmoms and Delayed are among a number of producers who contribute to the 18-track album. Bassist and guitarist Vuyo Manyike produced “Ungavumi." Manyike, who’s also an instrumentalist, played the guitar on “Ubuhle Bendalo” on Isibuko and "Winter Nights" on Sjava's 2015 album, Isina Muva.

A Personal Body of Work

While some songs draw from observing the lives of others, a majority of the album feels personal because of the amount of detail in his writing. From the story of an ex who drunk texts him at 3 a.m. as she listens to too much Summer Walker (“Amaphiko”), to a song like “Amakhehla,” where he sings about walking around guarded by his ancestors, or a song like “Isoka” where he warns his woman that haters will talk shit about him, but she shouldn’t be bothered as no one is flawless.

“But, I was talking about the public more than intombi (a woman) because there have been situations where I was portrayed negatively so that the girl, who’s you, would dump me,” Sjava says. He was likely referring to the sexual harassment case that was opened by his ex-girlfriend Lady Zamar, a case that was later dismissed by the court due to a lack of evidence.

On “Ithuna,” a song featuring maskandi legend Shwi, Sjava sings from the perspective of a womaniser reflecting on his ways, which he equates to digging himself a grave. “I’m encouraging amajongo (gents) to slow down and settle down,” Sjava says. “After recording it, I felt like I had said my piece but the song needed an elder’s voice. Then I went to uBab’uShwi and broke the idea down to him." The maskandi legend introduces himself through backing vocals on the hook before dropping gems on his verse.

“It’s important to go back to our legends because they are the ones who inspired us to get here. If you listen to my music, you hear a lot of Shwi,” Sjava says.

Late kwaito legend Mandoza offers inspiration to Sjava in the song “My Life,” which features fellow ATM (African Trap Movement) member Emtee and Emtee Records signee, Lolli Native. “People who know me know how much I look up to Mandoza. He motivated me,” Sjava says. “That song was inspired by his vibe and aura. When I was making it, I remember saying to Ruff I’m not sure if it will sound the way it does in my head, but let me try.”

In the song, Sjava and his collaborators express that their lives aren’t perfect, which is a misconception people tend to make when looking from the outside. One can’t be blamed for thinking that. Sjava has fought some battles since his introduction to the game in the 2010s, but he has effortlessly maintained momentum in his thriving career.

With the release of Isibuko, Sjava further settles into the hearts of South African music lovers’ hearts and the annals of contemporary South African music.

Photo by Alex Wong via Getty

‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero Paul Rusesabagina to Be Released From Prison

Paul Rusesabagina, who became renowned for his heroic portrayal in ‘Hotel Rwanda’, has received a presidential-ordered prison commute and will be released.

Paul Rusesabagina, the former hotel manager who saved over 1,200 Rwandans during the 1994 genocide and who was the inspiration behind the 2004 Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda, will be released from prison on Saturday (March 25th). Following a request for clemency, Rwanda’s government commuted the prison sentence of Paul Rusesabagina, who is now 68.

In 2020, the Rwandan government arrested Rusesabagina in Dubai and later transferred him to Rwanda, where he faced charges of terrorism related to his alleged involvement in a rebel group. Following the charges, the Rwandan court sentenced him to 25 years in prison. His sentencing triggered controversy, with some supporters alleging he had been unfairly targeted. In 2022, Rusesabagina’s family sued the government of Rwanda for $400 million, stating that they had "abducted" and illegally imprisoned him. Following Rusesabagina’s conviction, several people speculated that he had been detained because he had previously criticized Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame’s politics.

During Rwanda’s genocide, Rusesabagina worked as a hotel manager at the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Despite the violence and chaos surrounding him, Rusesabagina used his influence and resources to protect and shelter over 1,200 Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees from the Hutu extremists carrying out the genocide. Hotel Rwanda was based on Rusesabagina’s experiences during the genocide, and the film's release catapulted him to fame. In the movie, Rusesabagina was portrayed by Hollywood actor Don Cheadle.

According to spokesperson Yolande Makolo, the sentences of 19 others convicted alongside Rusesabagina will also be released.

"Under Rwandan law, commutation of the sentence does not extinguish the underlying conviction," Makolo told Reuters. “Rwanda notes the constructive role of the US government in creating conditions for dialogue on this issue, as well as the facilitation provided by the State of Qatar."

As reported by Reuters, Rwanda’s ministry of justice also stated that the commutation could be revoked if any released prisoners repeated the offenses.

"If any individual benefiting from early release repeats offenses of a similar nature, the commutation can be revoked, and the remainder of the prison sentence will be served," Rwanda's justice ministry said.

Music

Photo by Matt Crossick

Davido Is Bringing ‘Timeless’ to These Cities

The Nigerian superstar has announced ‘A Timeless Night with Davido’ in Lagos, London and New York.

Davido has shared on social media that he will be bringing his Timelessalbum to New York, London, and Lagos, dubbing the mini-tour “A Timeless Night With Davido.”

In the post, the singer wrote: “The support for Timeless over the last few days has been incredible! Thank you for the love. I'm so excited to bring this album to life and share it with you in person. London, New York City, Lagos join me for ‘A Timeless Night,' a special live event, where we'll make memories that will last forever!”

The DMW boss shared dates for the events; noting that in the first week of April, he will take the stage in New York and London, at Irving Plaza and Koko London, respectively, before returning to Lagos to perform at Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Lagos later that month.

In a viral social media post on Tuesday, the Nigerian singer announced that he will be releasing his latest studio album Timeless on March 31. The announcement spurred a lot of excitement and expectation from fans, who had been curious about the singer’s well-being after the extended hiatus that followed the tragic loss of his son, three year old Ifeanyi Adeleke.

Throughout Davido's 11-year career, he has become a staple in Afrobeats and has contributed significantly to pushing the sound, helping it resonate with fans globally. The singer has released several studio albums throughout his career, including Omo Baba Olowo (2012), A Good Time (2019), and A Better Time (2020).

Timeless will be his fourth studio album.

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