Tiso says Crown Gospel award will ‘open doors’

PUTUMA Tiso’s years of working as a backing singer for gospel greats such as Benjamin Dube and Rebecca Malope, and then finally launching a solo career, paid off when she walked away with the Crown Gospel best female artist award this weekend.

The Port Elizabeth-born singer, though she has also dabbled in jazz, said she had always known gospel music was her “home”.

She said her music was about touching and changing people’s lives and felt excited to receive recognition for those efforts.

“This is my second award this year after winning at the Independent National Gospel Awards [Ingomas] in the same category.

“I feel validated as a musician not only by my peers but validated by God especially, whom we do this for,” she said.

Tiso said doubt was sometimes cast on winners but she felt honoured to receive a congratulatory message from her mentor, Rebecca Malope.

“It [is] not common to be celebrated by people who used to work with you, [but] she sounded genuinely happy for me,” Tiso said.

She released a winning album, Dwala Lam, last year under her own production company, Putuma Productions.

She said the award would take her to the next level and open new doors for her.

“The Bible says he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies and this is what this award is. I will be coming home to launch my new album, Back to the Journey of Grace, in East London next week.

“It will also be an opportunity to give thanks,” she said.

Other Eastern Cape winners include muchloved Butho Vuthela of Ungavumi Yesu, who walked away with the highly contested best artist of the year award, which he described as “the ultimate award for me”.

Lusikisiki-born Ntethelelo Mphoswa walked away with the best music video award for his song Ngaphandle Kwakho.

Vuthela said lasting 16 years in the industry was “no joke” and no easy task and that the award would push him to work towards making more gospel music.

“The biggest thing is just being nominated with the giants – people whom I look up to in the music industry, and to see them stand up and applaud me showed not only that there is competition in gospel music but just the elevation of God and his message,” said Vuthela, who will launch a new album in January. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za