Princess of dance music
Nkuna evolves from gospel to house
Gospel singer Indlovukazi has become the most sought-after dance music vocalist.
Real name Princess Nkuna, 32, the Swazi goddess offers her powerful voice to two of the biggest house jams in the country at the moment, Prince Kaybee’s Gugulethu and TNS’s My Dali.
But before catching the attention of Heavy K in 2017 after putting out her song Mculo on social media, Indlovukazi was a struggling gospel star in Mpumalanga.
“I have been a church girl all my life, from the days of going to Sunday school.
“I grew up loving music, but I never thought it would be something that I will do full time,” she says.
“My dad was a jazz fanatic and I always went to festivals with him. I love gospel and jazz. I was doing that until I started working with DJs,” Indlovukazi says, adding that she has never been a house music fan.
It wasn’t until she caught the attention of the legendary Yvonne Chaka Chaka in 2013 while playing a shebeen queen and performing Miriam Makeba’s songs in a stage musical that she decided to pursue music full time.
“After the whole thing, she [Chaka Chaka] was so excited and she came to me. She said to me ‘you are a future star’ and asked to take a picture with me. From that day, I said I’m going to pursue music,” she recalls.
Indlovukazi has recorded countless collaborations with a number of prolific DJs. A collaboration with Mobi Dixon is next, she says.
“It’s been a great year for me. Everything is happening at rapid speed, but it’s only the beginning. I’m very excited,” she says.
She plans on releasing an Afro-pop album.
Her new single L.O.V.E is a first taste of what she has to offer in that genre.