The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Leisure Correspondent
NOMATHAMSANQA “Nkwali” Mkhwananzi has shared glory with an array of music groups such as Iyasa and Cirque Mother Africa, but now she is ready to stand on her feet and she is set to explode as a solo artiste on Friday when her debut album is launched at Bulawayo Theatre.
The eight-track acappella album is set to announce her arrival as a solo musician.
In an interview on Wednesday, Nkwali said she has been patiently waiting for an opportunity to go it alone. She added that recording a solo album was inevitable as her fans were pressuring her to come up with her own music — people were not getting enough of her captivating, soulful and velvety voice.
“Several people have over the past few years been urging me to release my own album but I felt I wasn’t ready but early this year when I came back from touring with Mother Africa, I just felt it was time for me to go to the studio.
“I made the decision to produce an acappella tunes for my debut album a long time ago because I had fallen in love with the genre. However, I will not be rooted in acapella throughout my career as a musician,” she said.
Nkwali, who returned from a tour with Mother Africa three weeks ago, would be backed by local imbube veterans, Impumelelo Shining Stars who are also featured in the album.
The CD, titled Sithokozile features adopted and modified traditional songs that include “Angifuni”, “Nyawo Lwami”, “Malayisha”, “Uthando”, “Madodana” and “Laphumilanga” and Nkwali’s own compositions, “Bazali Bami” and “Ingoma Yami”.
The album, to be dished to the audience as part of the admission fee, is named after her late aunt, who was one of her fervent backers.
Nkwali said coming into contact with a lot of different genres made it easy for her to decide the route she took in terms of her solo career. Being Iyasa’s lead singer refined her into a flexible musician that can sing almost all genres of music.
“I think my years with Iyasa have been crucial because they enabled me to soak in the full spectrum of the arts as I featured in various roles from singing, dancing to acting. When I joined the group my focus was singing and I certainly did not see myself dancing but gradually I became an astute dancer and became more confident in my work.
“Mother Africa cemented what I had learnt at Iyasa because I would be given varying genres to sing, I would shift from singing Salif Keita’s song move to Mahotella Queens and the next I am tasked with singing a tune in a language that I don’t even understand and I think all this experience will certainly come in handy as I chart my own course as a singer,” she said.
Noma’s musical journey began as a young girl in church and when she decided to join Iyasa, the arts world exploded in her face and she was convinced it was the career she wanted to follow.
She travelled with Albert Nyathi to the United Kingdom as a backing singer and shared the stage with South Africa’s jazz maestro Abdul Ibhrahim who dazzled her with the hit tune, Mannenberg and Malian Habib Koite.
Nkwali said sharing the stage with Dolly Parton last year remains one of her highlights in her tours with Mother Africa.
The release of the album will not see her resting on her laurels as she wants to take some African rhythms such as Afro pop and Afro jazz and mix it all in her pot, sprinkle a little acappella, and come up with a sound that is uniquely Nkwali.
