Picking it up and moving on
I struggled for so long to channel my experiences into the music and I was struggling to move on. [In October 2013 he was shot at by police officials using an automatic rifle in a case of mistaken identity.] The situation with the cops, it was a serious injury. Everybody wanted to know: ‘Yo, are you going to sue?’. It became less and less about the music. And I was struggling to channel it into the music and talk about my pain, like Tupac and 50 did. I struggled.
Would you say making Picking up the Pieces was sort of cathartic?
Yes, I went to therapy for a couple of sessions. I was like, ‘Aight, ke grand’ (I’m good). When I was ready to release a new album, new material, I figured, ‘Let me put out a documentary and talk about it. Let me do something I hardly do: talk’.
Apart from the story told in the film...
It’s about me picking up the pieces. It’s about where I’ve been in the last three years, it’s about me sharing my pain and telling you more about 2013. It was a good year, but you know, s**t happened.
How did the shooting affect your view on life and law enforcement in the SA?
It showed me that there is a dark side. It showed me that there’s good police, and that there’s really bad, f*cked-up police. But above them, there’s a God. There are certain things you cannot explain. Like how do you walk
out alive from 9 bullets? Three [near] headshots? There’s a higher being; the guy that pulled me out of that car alive.
Who else was involved in its making?
My partner [actress and TV presenter] Asanda Maku helped me piece this thing together, [with the help of director] Monde Sibisi.
Is this an indication that Khuli might be branching out into film?
I think I actually want to tell stories and become the Spike Lee of South Africa. Man, it’s been like a decade [since breaking into the industry], and I feel like we just started. I feel like we’ve only begun.