Ifani Haymani cooks up success
In April 2015, ifani made South African hip-hop history with his album going gold on the day of its release. His I Believes In Me: 2nd Quadrant album sold 20 000 copies, which had been his target before launching the album.
However, it was short-lived.
After receiving criticism from other musicians and their fans that his campaign with cider brand, Redd’s, made it possible for him to go gold in one day, it was the final straw for him. He left the music business and went into a self-imposed exile. But the exile seems to have helped him prep for the current lockdown.
“I took a conscious decision in 2016 to go on a personal lockdown. I was chilling, I was gyming, I also ate a lot and tried a lot of food, from Kasi to Nigerian cuisine. Personally, my lockdown was a time to look back at what I had done.”
Now that exile is over, thanks to his new travel cooking show on SABC 3, Amah Knows Best. In the show ifani travels around China, meeting grandmothers who teach him how to cook traditional Chinese dishes. He is joined by a guide who helps with translation.
It’s a concept, he says, that came to him just before he went on exile. “My producers worked and sold the idea while I was away. We finally got the SABC on board in 2019 and also People’s Daily media group in China, who helped us a lot. We shot the show in November and December 2019.”
ifani says the show reveals just how similar human beings are.
“It’s the fact that we get told how different we are almost every day. But what’s the common denominator, the one thing we share? It’s food. So we wanted to use food as the first step to learning
about people.”
Amah Knows Best also marks his return to the music industry since 2015. “Each episode features a new song which is released after the episode ends.” And then he drops the bomb, the music is free to download.
● Amah Knows Best airs on SABC 3, Wednesday at 8.30pm.