Local celeb – Bucie
Singer BUSISIWE ‘BUCIE’ NQWILISO, 30, candidly shares about motherhood, marriage and her decision to retire from music.
Just three months after giving birth to baby boy Aphiwe, Bucie, as she’s affectionately known, is on a mission to get her banging body back. We’ve seen her workout sessions via Instagram and, she says, the hard work is slowly paying off. “I have the best personal trainer who’s always encouraging me to take things easy. It’s taking time but eventually I’ll get there,” she says. Aphiwe is the singer’s second child – she has a 12-year-old son, Xolani, from a previous relationship. “Motherhood is amazing. It honestly feels like the first time. With my first pregnancy I was just 18 and after giving birth, my parents took Xolani to raise him in Stilfontein, North West, so I could continue with my studies and chase my dreams in Joburg. This time around, I’m raising my son from birth and while everything feels new, I’m enjoying it to the fullest.”
The artist is grateful for the opportunity to be a mom once more, something she thought she wouldn’t get to experience again. In January 2016, Bucie had an operation to treat endometriosis – a painful condition that causes the tissue that’s lining the inside of the uterus to grow on the ovaries, bowel, and the pelvis. It can affect fertility and often requires a number of surgeries as treatment.
After the operation, the star was told it’d be difficult, maybe even impossible, to conceive again. She’d been sickly and had excrutiating abdominal pains. These were so debilitating that she couldn’t attend rehearsals for Clash
of the Choirs last year, where she was a choir master. “I was already a mom of one child, but hearing those bad news hurt. I’d always wanted my boy to have siblings, and now it wasn’t going to happen. That broke my heart. But God works in mysterious ways. I found out I was pregnant six months later!”
She continues: “I gave birth early, at 27 weeks, which was odd as I had a smooth pregnancy. The doctor had said it was safe for me to travel and perform. My water broke while I was performing! I couldn’t let my fans down, so I continued singing and finished the show, and only went to hospital after. I was examined and both baby and I were fine. Two weeks later, however, Aphiwe was born.”
Motherhood isn’t the only thing Bucie is smiling about these days – soon she’ll be changing her surname. Her lobolo was finalised last December, so she’s practically married. The songstress lights up when she speaks about her chartered accountant husband, Nhlanhla. All she’s willing to let slip is that he’s in his thirties and is originally from Zimbabwe.
“He came into my life unexpectedly. I had just broken up with someone I dated for three and a half years. I didn’t think I’d ever fall in love again, and told myself I wouldn’t allow myself to. I was resentful because my ex and I were together for so long and in the end he wasn’t ‘The One’. I was angry at myself for not seeing the signs sooner. I put so much time and energy into that relationship only for it to not work. Over time, I realised that when someone loves you, they do so without conditions. In hindsight, I’m grateful for my ex because if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have learnt to love my husband so perfectly.”
The mother of two met Nhlanhla six months after that break up, and three months into the new relationship he asked for her hand in marriage. Things moved very quickly, and the songbird had her doubts about it. “As women, we’re conditioned to think there’s a certain time we should date someone for, and only after that period can we get married. There was no waiting with us – Nhlanhla told me I was the person he’d been waiting for and I had everything he wanted in a woman. He always says what he loves most about me. ”
The couple isn’t in a rush to hold either a traditional or white wedding just yet. Instead they’re focusing on their small family. Dubbed the ‘princess of house music’, Bucie has enjoyed phenomenal success. A song she penned and collaborated with Black Coffee on in 2010, Superman, caught the attention of none other than globallyrenowned rapper, Drake, who added it to his latest album, More
Life. While the song remains relatively the same, Drake changed its title to Get It Together and replaced Bucie’s vocals with those of British singer, Jorja Smith. Unimpressed by the latter, Bucie’s fans took to social media to voice their disapproval when the song dropped in March. To ease the furore, we soon found out the songstress is indeed credited as the songwriter for the smash hit, and will be getting royalties for it. Talk about hitting the jackpot! “I’m grateful to my fans and their unwavering loyalty, and I appreciate how they got so angry on my behalf. But I didn’t want to focus on the negative. So I said to myself, ‘Even if they have someone else singing it, it’s my voice that made them love and recognise the track to begin with. Of all the songs and collaborations Black Coffee has done, it’s the track that I wrote that Drake chose to remix, so what more do I want?” she adds. “But I do love how Jorja jazzed it up a little. It’s sounds sexy.”
Discovered in 2007 while a student at Central Johannesburg College by Thandukwazi ‘Demor’ Sikhosana, Bucie has released countless club-bangers throughout her 10 years in the industry, including Turn Me On (another Black Coffee collaboration), Get Over It, Easy To Love, Rejoice and many more. She’s performed on various stages abroad in Portugal, Spain and the US. International music heavyweights like Seal have praised her voice and sound too. She even released her momentous album, Easy To Love, independently. Despite her success, Bucie remains coy and has managed to lead a regular life outside the spotlight. “Music is a calling and something I can’t run away from. I don’t chase after the celebrity element.”
The muso confirms reports – she’s leaving music. The album she’s working on, Rebirth, is her last. “I feel I’ve served my time. I’ve given my fans all of me. The industry takes so much of my time and I want to be around for my kids. Before, things were easy and my son stayed with my parents before my father passed away in 2006. Now he’s with me, as well as the baby.”
Will we still be hearing from her? “I’ll do features and write. I plan to sign only women under my label as I know how difficult it is to get ahead. Female artists must know they don’t have to sell their soul to get recognition.”
“I FEEL I’VE SERVED MY TIME IN MUSIC. I’VE GIVEN MY FANS ALL OF ME. THE INDUSTRY TAKES SO MUCH OF MY TIME AND I WANT TO BE AROUND FOR MY KIDS.”