From Tsolo to the world in perfect harmony

Bongeziwe Mabandla penned an album that will be remembered for warmly embracing his fans during their most vulnerable moments.

Iimini, meaning days, was released just at the start of SA’s hard Covid-19 lockdown, and it was a friend to many during those long dark months, with comforting words as it took us on an arduous journey of love and loss.

Mabandla, who has been an enigma in the SA music scene after much success abroad, says it took him by surprise that the 12-track album was loved by many in his home country. Iimini has since won a South African Music Award (Sama) for best contemporary album in July.

“The reason I wrote this album was because I noticed that with a lot of my friends this was all we talked about, there is this obsession with human beings and love and how much it influences people. How someone can be so put together then fall in love and then fall apart,” he says .

“I wrote about my experiences a lot more. I think people would say my previous albums were a lot more serious, I wanted to write about my experiences in relationships and in a particular relationship and those highs and lows of emotions of being in love with somebody, losing them and going back.”

Though the album was about losing an important relationship in his life, Mabandla was in a good place when he produced and released the music.

“This album came when I was in a very good place in my life, especially my music career. I had won a Sama and I felt good about what I was doing and where my life was. I think that really translated into the album. I think making albums of how you feel in that moment can translate into a really good song or a really bad song,” he says .

Mabandla, who is now taking his music on tour in Europe, will be back in SA this week to tour in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Tshwane and East London.

“It’s true that I haven’t toured SA a lot, I had one year where I just toured in Europe and other countries. This album [Iimini] really opened up SA for me which was something I didn't expect and I feel that people in SA are discovering my music a lot more than before. And this has translated in the tours a lot, the reception I had in my last tour changed my life and changed my view of SA. I thought people in SA didn’t get my music,” he said.

Born and bred in Tsolo, Eastern Cape, Mabandla grew up obsessed with the hit song I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston.

“Some of the games we played in Tsolo were music-related and we would play singing competitions and stuff. I used to be so into Whitney Houston's song I Will Always Love You. I would pretend people are in front of me and belt it out,” he says .

Though he loved music, he always believed he would be a storyteller through acting and not music. He even had a stint on iconic soapie Generations and drama Tsha Tsha.

“I am so surprised I turned out to be a musician. I always wanted to be a musician in my heart but I didn’t think I had what it takes... I was very serious that I would become an actor.”

He came to Johannesburg in the early 2000s and completed a BA degree in music live performance. But the afro-pop singer is shy and declines to share his age. He politely says he is in his 30s.

“I came to study in Joburg at Afda [an institution that offers courses in film, television, performance, among others] and that first year I arrived, Simphiwe Dana’s album dropped and I think Zabalaza by Thandiswa dropped as well,” he recalls .

As a village boy who was new to the city, Mabandla became acquainted with more musicians he did not know such as legends Busi Mhlongo, Jabu Khanyile and Sipho Gumede, who greatly inspired him.

“I really started to understand the traditional side of South African music and that is what really made me love music. I started finding these artists that I really related to,” Mabandla says.

These artists heavily influenced his music style which can be described as contemporary folk music.

“Even though I’m Xhosa, I do think my music has that element of isiZulu and I think I’m really influenced by maskandi and mbaqanga.”

Mabandla laments that with his first album Umlilo, which was released in 2012 was an album where he was still trying to find himself.

“It’s hard for me to listen to Umlilo because I was a child. I didn’t really have a true sense of myself but I was trying to sing about the things that matter to me,” he says .

With his second album, Mangaliso, which debuted in 2017, he started slowly coming into the sound that made him a star on the global stage with hit songs like Ndokulandela and Bawo Wam. It also landed him his first Sama.

“That album was written in a very painful time in my life. I was living in Yeoville, trying to make it as a musician. I was dropped by my first label and I was trying to figure out life. That’s why the album is called Mangaliso because I was looking for a miracle and looking for life to be miraculous.”

The Zange star beams when he talks about his mother’s support over the years. It’s clear his prayer for a miracle did, in fact, come true.

“My mom has always been supportive. I did not do really well in school except in art stuff. She has been supportive even during times when things were not going well. I remember telling her that I’m thinking of getting a job and giving the music thing a break. She said no, you’re not going to stop. That is not an option. She is my biggest fan.”

Mabandla is expected to release an album that will be a follow-up to Iimini. “I am so nervous and I hope it’s going to be received well. It’s been hard with Covid-19 making an album,” he says .

His producer, Tiago Correia-Paulo, who is often seen with the singer on stage, will once again be producing his work.

“He’s a great friend of mine and a really creative person. The art you hear in Iimini is thanks to him. I never understood what a producer does on an album and it’s someone who hides your flaws and I think he understands who I am.”

Mabandla says despite his success, he cannot afford to be too comfortable and feel as if he has made it.

“I don’t chart on the radio still. There are still a lot of festivals I have not played in. There is a lot of growth to still happen. I definitely want to improve as an artist, that’s really important for me. I also want the audiences to improve and the numbers to improve.”