No such thing as can’t do for multi-talented ‘Soul’ singer
ZIMKITHA Kumbaca is an actress, stage performer, writer and director, and now she is about to prove that she sings, too. Going by the stage name Zimkitha Soul, she is about to release her first album, 9 Lives: The Blacklisted Woman. She is known for her theatre work and as Nontle on eTV’s award winning series, Matatiele, now she wants to be known as a musician who isn’t afraid to express herself.
“When it has come to my singing abilities, I have always been boxed. People have said I have a great voice for jazz and soul music. Those are great compliments but my voice is not just one-dimensional and this album is going to show that.
“This album is going to be all about me. I naturally have a personality that allows me to do anything and everything I want to, in fact my personality requires that I do so.
“I know some people say that you can’t do it all, but I think otherwise,” she said.
Zimkitha started working on the album last year and had seven songs completed before a bug in her producers computer system caused a crash, leading to her songs disappearing.
“Everything was lost. I had to literally go back to the drawing board. I was so upset because I had been working so hard on the album. I do believe that everything happens for a reason, though. I had a conversation with myself and re-evaluated what I wanted to convey in my music,” she said.
She started going to clubs, bars and lounges and observed what people were listening to, what they moved to and what they sang along to. “It was an interesting thing to do and once I was done observing, I was in studio again and put together eight brand new songs in three days. It was crazy. I would write a new song on the spot and record it and I did not even question what was happening, I just trusted my gut feeling,” she said.
Zimkitha said that the album would introduce her and one of the messages would be about femininity.
“You are going to get a piece of me with this album. There is also a huge message on femininity.
“I want women to appreciate their bodies; I want to know that it’s okay to be aggressive about their love and their thoughts.
I also want people overall to know that they are magical and that really you can do anything you want to; all you have to do is be proactive and embrace yourself.” Although this isn’t her first musical venture, (she released an EP in 2015), she feels 9 Lives:
The Blacklisted Woman will validate her as a singer. “There is a huge difference between my EP and this album. With my EP, there was no real fulfilment in terms of what I sang about. I was holding back a lot. The album is going to be very different, some might even see it as musically offensive.”
She plans to release her album in December, while its first single, Yonkinto, with Razor Dakid, has had success on radio.
The album is going to be different – some might even see it as offensive.