September is Heritage Month in South Africa. It is undeniable that our country has a rich musical heritage, but like our customs and traditions, some of it is slowly being lost and forgotten.
Tonight thought it would be interesting to bring Tu Nokwe, the 56-year-old singer and guitarist who brought us trailblazing songs like Inyakayaka and Ubuntu featuring Jabu Khanyile, together with 29-year-old Mashayabhuqe kaMamba who fuses Maskandi and trap music for what he terms “digital Maskandi” on songs like Shandarabaa Ekhelemendeh.
But we weren’t ready for the goose-bump-inducing conversation focusing on spirituality, identity and more that ensued. Below is an edited version of the conversation, which lasted just over an hour.
Mashayabhuqe: Someone who made me do this (music) was umam’Busi Mhlongo. The harmonies, everything that she had. I call what I do “digital Maskandi”.
Tu Nokwe: Woah!Mashayabhuqe: I was doing Durban kwaito before and it had some Maskandi in it. Then in 2010, I stopped and created something called digital Maskandi.
Tu Nokwe: Ubu stopiswa yini?
Mashayabhuqe: I could say, ngiyahlanya ekhanda.
Tu Nokwe: That sounds like someone I know (points at self).
Mashayabhuqe: Kwaito boxed me in. I needed something more. I met up with a boy called Maraza and told him nginesipho esi kanjena and nesifiso…
Tu Nokwe: Ngiyabonga ukhuthi uthi une sipho. The thing that helps us to move and grow with the abundance that you are sharing now is to know that kuyisipho. I’m learning from you right now. I see ourselves as channels.
Mashayabhuqe: Yes, ma.
Tu Nokwe: It means enqondweni yakho nase nhlizweni yakho, uyazazi ukhuthi uubani.
Mashayabhuqe: I haven’t forgotten who I am. When I make these songs, it’s not just about turning up or getting white girls smiling at you when you’re performing because the music is really weird. How do I tell ubaba who is missing out on all this modern day culture: when Mam’ Tu Nokwe is tweeting, she’s trying to get followers. How will he know what “followers” are? We have to bridge the gap between the older generation and the younger one.
Mashayabhuqe: In today’s world, sometimes I can feel that someone’s energy is off. How do you block the energies ongazidingi?
Tu Nokwe: I can switch to the Buddhist technique here to answer your question. When you meditate, you breathe and your rib cage opens. You’re allowing. That’s all you’re doing. Even when you’ve forgotten, the air goes in and out. You must be in a state of allowing. Look up the frequency that is a sleep-like state. You want to be in a state where you quiet the mind. A sleep-state. Do not block. That’s how you manage energies. Let them come, acknowledge them and let them pass. That’s what energy knows. Energy must pass. And then don’t judge. See the energy for what it is, continue to be you, and let it pass. Don’t get stuck.I study metaphysics and one of my teachers says: abundance is the ability to do what you need to do when you need to do it. I recorded a song about it in Cape Town last week. I want to sing it properly because I got it wrong at the show last night.
[Tu Nokwe starts singing, banging on the table, smiling at Mashaya with her eyes twinkling and tapping her foot. The din of ?the room is drowned out.]
Mashayabhuqe: In my interviews, I tell people I want to be studied one day. I don’t think that’s shallow. No one at home has dreamt that far. Ekhaya ngiwokqala wogvela eTV. What are the things that you wanted to do?
Tu Nokwe: For 10 years, I’ve been sitting with this book. If there’s one thing I know kuyisiphiwo sami, ukuthi ngiyenze abantu bakhumbule ipower yabo. I was taken to a psychologist as a child and the psychologist said: “She’s living 20 years ahead of her time.”
Tu Nokwe: Since it’s Heritage Month, my thoughts are: we’re not losing our musical heritage. I think we need to be more rooted in our understanding. To not lose where we come from and why we have to be the way we are. It’s okay to make music danceable to reach the masses. I want my entire next albums to be danceable. I spoke to (DJ) Fresh and he said: “Let’s do it, ma!” But I don’t want it to just be in the air. There has to be a real connection so that we keep the roots.
Mashayabhuqe: It’s not even like the whole thing ye Heritage is not cool anymore. It’s just that time influences everything. Now, when we have days we have to celebrate, all we do is braai. The way we grew up when I was in school, if we had something to celebrate, you could tell. Kids had their beads on, kushayiwa indlamu. Today, it’s only those who are concerned who are pushing that. I’m only doing music because I needed to be heard. Artists or people who have a voice can help to cultivate, teach and remind people who we are.