Afro folk musician Pilani Bubu has praised the decline of American influence in homegrown sound and culture.
Being unapologetically South African in her sound is nothing new for the 40-year-old singer, who in the past decade honoured with pride her African identity and the restoration of African stories through her music.
Bubu remains unshaken in preserving African stories for future generations. “When I started my music career 13 years ago, I released music that was centred around who we are and my experience.
"I realised that we can use music as a technology to archive our own stories as well as document the events that are happening. It’s like a glimpse into the past, present and future,” she said.
“My project Folklore is [anchored on] not taking for granted some of our culture and heritage. When this album won me a Sama [SA Music Award] in 2020, it gave me a push that the conversation I’m trying to have in music is expandable.”
Bubu is set to host the three-day Folklore Festival, which will kick off this month in Pretoria on Women's Day (August 9), and will then proceed to Johannesburg and Cape Town.
“This festival comes out of my artistry as a musician, storyteller and poet. It’s a way to extend itself as a platform of multidiscipline of art beyond music, theatre or film,” she said.
“I’ve come to realise that people want this type of space. They are tired of capitalism but, instead, they need deep and informative conversations which will help contribute to the archiving of their African lineage and history.”
The Joburg-based singer is among a class of local acts making waves overseas due to their niche offering. While folk music is a genre often neglected by the masses, Bubu sished more Africans were open to the spiritual connection that her music brings as it not only provides healing but clarity and awareness of who we are as a race.
“Previously, we were caught in the consumption of American culture but of late, I see a lot of people are migrating back to who they are.
“Look at the fusion of genres that are happening in the jazz space, where most of these musicians are leaning on conventions of who we are. These artists are not only using this as a way to tell stories but to bring reflection of African roots and documenting ourselves properly back into history,” she said.
“If I had the power to re-write a narrative that was written about black people, it would be to re-write African spirituality as Christianity has demonised some of our practices. Most of the process of coming to our own as Africans has been altered and most of us are going back to see where all of it has fallen.
“[We are doing this] to return to our original practices and realise why such a process is pertinent… most of these practices will be beneficial to our future generations if we archive it for them.”
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