‘Just focus on my music’
ZAHARA: STAR HINTS THAT NEGATIVE RUMOURS ARE BASED ON RIVALS’ JEALOUS LIES
‘I broke all the records. I broke my own records.’
It’s no news that Zahara is the fastest-selling artist in the country at the moment, with her fourth and recent album Mgodi (meaning hole) going gold in six hours and platinum in 20 hours.
“Music is my life. I believe I was born for this,” she says. “I’ve been singing since the age of six, but never thought what is happening in my life would happen. All I wanted was for people to hear my voice. My dream came true because now the world hears me.”
She is thrilled at the success of her latest album, which tells the story of her life from the first track to the last. She says she hopes other people find parts of their life in some of the songs.
“So Mgodi is all about my journey. You know when you’re feeling like people are chasing you? Similar to what journalists do,” she says with a laugh.
“Mgodi is about people chasing you so you just run and find a place to hide, but while in the hole you realise that you didn’t bring a rope with you, or anything that will help you leave the hole or climb out.
“You try to leave it, but you keep on falling back in, similar to facing setbacks in life.
“Ultimately you get out of the hole with the help of a good Samaritan, meaning that God will never leave his children and always takes care good of them.”
Having produced hit after hit, I asked if she feels under pressure every time she pens a song.
To my surprise, the Imali hitmaker said that she experiences no pressure at all when she’s creating good music.
“It’s not about hits. It’s about telling my story. Do you want to hear my story or not?
“There is no pressure in telling my story. It’s totally up to you if you want to listen. I’m telling a story from track one to 12 and I’m not bothered about whether people buy the album or not,” she says.
The 29-year-old explained that she loved working with the late, legendary music producer Robbie Malinga, whom she regarded as a father, on some of her albums, but on Mgodi she worked with Mojalefa “Mjakes” Thebe. He’s an afro-pop maverick with whom she created magic in other works when Malinga was battling with his health and needed rest.
And speaking of legends, Zahara worked with veteran American saxophonist Kirk Whalum, who features on two songs on Mgodi. She also worked with Whalum on Umfazi and Ina Mvula.
“God is so amazing. Kirk Whalum asked me if he could be on my album.
“He even said I shouldn’t pay him. It was more of a trade than anything because he just asked that in exchange I write two songs for his next album.
“I’ll write them in both Xhosa and English,” she said.
The multi award-winning afro-soul star says while it took a lot for her to get this far, it was never easy, especially with the negative publicity she often receives.
“This negativity used to bother me. I remember calling my mother and telling her that I’m coming home.
“I’m a girl from a village and I came here to sing. I broke all the records; I broke my own record. I have 39 awards, 17 SA Music Awards and I am recognised internationally.
“But nobody cares about that. Nobody wants to write about the facts. People don’t want to write good news,” she said.
“I’ve got my own record label, but people talk about me drinking alcohol and say they got that from ‘sources’.
“I want to know who those ‘sources’ are,” she says angrily, adding that drinking champagne in her house is not an issue. “Just focus on my music. Have I ever disappointed you on that?”
Zahara adds: “People will talk but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still trying to get to gold.”
And their mothers and children love to listen to her music.
info
Zahara is booked as the first act to open the Lyric Theatre’s monthly music event series Kaya FM & Bassline Live Present on February 3 at 8pm sharp at Gold Reef City.
‘And I get recognised internationally, but nobody cares about that.’
Zahara Afro-soul star