The Squire enters new space with unique sound
On the eve of the release of his latest track Nguwe, Morena Sefatsa aka “Morena The Squire” talks about creating a new genre-defying African sound for the global stage, writes Nothemba Mkhondo
Where does the name and persona “The Squire” come from?
I think the Squire persona came to life because there were certain things I wanted to see on stage that I wasn’t seeing in the South African space. I realised the more I finessed myself the more of an experience I could give people if I shared myself a lot more. I’m becoming the artist I want to be because I realised who I am along the way.
What keeps you going?
I’m just happy to be a black South African boy with ghetto roots, an international understanding and taste – who’s also living his truth and consistently redefining his identity because that’s what a progressive human being does.
How have you changed as an artist over the years?
After Faith Alive there was a danger of me falling into being just a house vocalist which is not what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be confined to a certain space. I was in the habit of being an entertainer, TV producer or entrepreneur but a musician.
How did this new chapter begin?
There was one year where I just stopped writing music and I was just thinking about what I want to do next. Serendipity happened when I got into Kingmaker Entertainment’s studio. They are a bunch of people who are also trying to find a new sound and they are hungry to do a lot more in music. We are defining what music means for us because we have a worldly view, but we’re still very much connected to what’s happening right now.
Tell us about your comeback track, Nguwe.
Nguwe is about an ex. Someone asked me, ‘what did you see in that person’ and I was just like ‘I don’t know, it was just them, they made me crazy’. So I literally translated it directly when I say, ‘ngihlanyiswa nguwe’. For the artwork, the brief was Vogue meets Yizo Yizo .I love nice things but at the same time, I love the essence of just being black and young.
What’s next?
Amazingness! After Nguwe, we’ll drop another single and release the EP. There are also international projects we’ll be doing because it’s Africa’s time now and everyone’s got eyes on us, so we want to take advantage of that.
Nguwe by Morena The Squire is out on Friday February 15, on all major music streaming platforms.