Cici’s runaway success
SHE HAS GLOBAL APPEAL
IT MIGHT look like a skimpy outfit reserved for sex kittens to you, but to Cici, it’s a power suit.
The new girl to emerge out of Arthur Mafokate’s stable 999Music after winning the SA Arts and Development Association (SAADA) talent search, has stuck to the winning formula that created household names out of the likes of Queen, Nestum and lately Chomee. They flash skin, tease and titillate.
“I sell a package. How can I present a gift without a ribbon,” she says, flirting with her eyes.
We meet in the wake of her success at the recent Metro FM Music Awards where she walked home with two nominations.
The woman born Busisiwe Thwala, 28, is up for an award in the best R&B single category for her hit Runaway and also in the best compilation album for Summa
Ya D’Summa in which she sings lead vocals.
Hers might sound like an overnight success story, because in just four months as a recording artist she has gained the attention and accolades others sweat for for years, but she has been working the reality TV circuit to bring her dreams to life. She was in the top 10 of Popstars, top 32 of Idols SA and even in the Afrikaans talent search Supersterre.
“I didn’t even understand what I was singing but I reached the second round,” she laughs.
She tells me her Instagram profile has shot up from 1 800 followers to an impressive 13 000.
She reflects on the songs that have gained her critical acclaim.
“Summa Ya D’Summa was an anthem of summer and a theme song for SABC1 – and that marketed it. I recorded Runaway just four days after winning the SAADA and it has enjoyed such a great reception. It’s exciting to be part of a generation that embraces such new sounds.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet that all of this is happening. It’s surreal.”
She believes her sound is different from that of the other Arthur girls.
“I do more R&B and pop, a more international than local sound.
“Arthur has had an eye for talented females and gives them an opportunity in this male-dominated industry.”
She dismisses any suggestions that she may end up falling for the charms of Mafokate, the eligible bachelor, as has been speculated of his other singers in the past.
“Angisidle istock (I don’t eat stock, meaning I don’t date colleagues). We have a working relationship,” she states matter of factly. She feels at home at 999Music. “I wanted a label that believed in me, one that would give me creative freedom and take care of me.”
Cici is the seventh in a family of eight children. She has 24 nephews and nieces. Her late father was a minister at the St John’s Apostolic Faith Mission in Ladysmith.
“We went to church so much that at some point we would hide in the wardrobe.”
Music has been central to her father’s life. “Every time visitors came I was the entertainment for the evening.
My father would make me sing for the guests. But he would have wanted me to be a lawyer. I’m proud to make my family proud and wherever my father is I’m sure he is proud.”
She dropped out of BA Dramatic Art studies at Wits University because her family could not afford the fees. She held down an office admin job which she says she hated. “I’m not one for routine and I was frustrated.”
She ended up on a cabaret show in Bloemfontein taking a fourmonth leave from the admin job – she never returned. Since then she travelled to Turkey and the Seychelles as a cabaret girl honing her skill as a singer and dancer.
Her last gig was as a Vintage Varga Girl at Cantare Montecasino in Johannesburg before she auditioned for SAADA.
Cici has a curious American accent, which she credits to her staple of African-American films. “I did it for fun; it has become a habit.”
She harbours dreams of being an actress, but says she needed to root herself in one field first, which is music.
Cici says she hasn’t met Chomee yet because their schedules have been clashing.