Star aims to stay ‘real’ despite fame
Black reflects on her career since ‘Idols SA’
IT’S BEEN more than a year since Amanda Black released her award-winning debut album Amazulu and the star is still getting used to the fame her meteoric rise to the top of the charts has brought.
Black‚ who shot to fame as a top eight finalist on Idols SA‚ won over the hearts of fans last year with her unique sound and strong vocals.
She said that despite the pressures of the industry‚ she was determined to succeed on her own terms.
“I don’t know if there is a formula for success but I know that if I keep being me and be real‚ then I will be fine. I feel like the honesty in my music and the stories I tell have been some of the reasons why people gravitate towards me.”
Reflecting on her own experience on Idols SA‚ Black said she could sympathise with this year’s runner-up Mthokozisi Ndaba‚ who received assistance after struggling to deal with the emotions of losing to Paxton Fielies in the show’s finale last week.
“I never got that far and for me it felt like I got so far‚ but not far enough. I can only imagine how it must feel for him to go so far and not win.
“Everyone wants to win‚ but only one person can. I hope he is okay and that he remembers that he got so much out of it.”
The transition from Idols to a major player in the music industry saw Black work with several artists‚ but the singer said she was looking forward to working with big players in the industry.
“I would love to work with the likes of Zonke [Dikana] and Thandiswa Mazwai. It would be interesting to see what would come out of our approaches to music.”
While speaking about music came easy to Black‚ she has always been shy to speak about her private life‚ only revealing that she wrote a recent single with La Sauce about the joy of being in a new relationship. — DDC