Many an artist today rarely come full circle. Along their artistic path, there are swayed and persuaded and at times thrown off balance. Being consumed by the limelight in such a way that throws off their initial love with the arts into a downward spiral. They simply forget the reason they became (popular) in the first place.
This ‘secondary’ package (the glitz and the glamour), consumes the head and has veered many off track. As art lovers we experience a loss and consequently the same in the artist’s coffers.
Only a few can be described as coming of age or mature in the music industry, mainly because of the failure to keep the fire that shot them to stardom in the first place, well lit. This constant search for relevance and to be appealing is an art very seldom known to many. A humbling experience it may be, it serves as a reminder of how the arts are constantly evolving and emerging and that the only way you can discover yourself again is to be at the place you started from, in that zone, in that moment.
We have today, many one hit wonders than we have had of fully established entertainers because of the etching of the circle itself, some quickly lose sight. The circle is not to be achieved. A fully fledged artist is not to be.
Zolani Mahola, shot to stardom with her alluring voice, one as such I had never heard before. She placed herself amongst a group of talented artists’ and compositions and backed it up with repeated musical offerings that till today earn a spot within the artistic landscape of the country. Her voice remains one that resembled a fullness every other singer longs for and her persona embodied a true version of ‘my’ African artist, versatile and beaming with prospect of international recognition, a wave she rod quite beautifully for years until she decided to come back to the place where she envisioned herself well before everything we know about her came to be.
In this dog-eat-dog industry, she has remained viable and musically sort after. Her name can easily be carved amongst the greats the country has produced but instead she has not let fame and fortune consume her head but instead use it as draft under her wings, to soar even higher.
One can almost be short of an answer as to what next for such a great career? As times change and the musical landscape transforms itself, remaining viable is a hard job, hence we have many an artist grabbing any ounce of limelight that is thrown to them.
A mother of two, a wife, singer and recently just starred in a theatrical at the Johannesburg Theatre, Calling me Home. It seems she has found her way back home to theatre, her first love with the arts before Freshlyground shot her to super stardom-ship. She envisioned herself being more into theatre but as fate would have it she had to set it aside and focus on becoming a lead singer and song writer.
“I loved being in the theatre and it is a passion that I had to put aside for the growth of Freshlyground. When I left high school my ambition was to be a theatre-maker, an actress and potentially a director but I ran into singing somewhere along the way. I rode that wave and fifteen years later I came back to me with this production.”
She openly admits that she would love to do more theatre work, despite her first not receiving rave reviews as she would have hoped. Something she knows how to handle from the unforgiving world of music.
Zolani in Coming Home
Mahola’s re-discovery is what I think every artist needs to achieve this full circle. While a part of me thinks she never left theatre but was playing varied acts with the same cast in different roles and plays in the music Freshlyground has been making for over fifteen years.
Her performances with the group have been big enough and demanding, unlike any other theatre act ever played on any stage
While Freshlyground is set to realise new material soon as they started recording in December of 2016 with Banana Republic being a single lifted from this upcoming album.
“We started recording fifteen songs in December of 2016 and we are taking our time with crafting those songs. We released Banana Republic on Freedom Day here in South Africa way before we meant to release any of the songs because of the relevance of the song to South Africa’s current socio-political climate..” She said.
The group is not new to protest songs, they realised “Chicken to change” in protest to Zimbabwe’s nonagenarian leader who has led the country for more than 36 years and is about to run for another term in 2018.
“It was a response to the seeming indifference of the ruling powers to the well-being of the South African population. It is a protest song for the modern times… we elected the ruling powers because we felt they would redress the failures of past governments but we have found that largely they want to line their own pockets and are spreading a culture of a profound disrespect for the rule of law. Apartheid so fundamentally undermined the dignity of most of the citizens of our country and much of the time it seems as though the government that we have elected similarly tramples on this fragile dignity. We felt we needed to make these feelings known and put on record: hence the release of the song Banana Republic.” Said Zolani.
Despite the group’s music being banned in Zimbabwe, Zolani does not see herself as an activist but rather a social commentator,
“I would not define myself as an activist but I would say that an artist needs to reflect the society they live in.. As an artist I need to comment on the things I see in the world and present this commentary in the best way I know how … for me that is to sing and to act.”
While for many artists, having a husband, two kids and a career usually drags them down, it seems she has done the opposite and has even found the energy to shed a few kilos in the process. All of which has not been easy, she explains, but it has been important enough for her to note that she can achieve even more, if she sets her mind to it.
“…the main reason to shed all that weight was a need to make my physical image conform with the image I had in my head of who I was, of what I looked like when I thought of myself….I do very often times struggle against the idealised notions of beauty that we have bought into in modern society and I have since I was a very young girl. It’s sad… but true.”
Zolani Mahola certainly inspires her fellows, she has remained a true artist despite the burdens of being a woman artist, mother and wife and has added onto her repertoire, a theatrical appearance of equal relevance to her coming of age within the arts industry.
I have followed her music career since the beginning and I would love to own and listen to a solo album from the Waka Waka singer which I have no doubt would be nothing but styled in the manner she has helped shape the music within the group she finds herself in.
Me with Zolani in Harare, Zimbabwe (2005)
Her reuniting with her lost love (theatre) could just be the start of a whole new path for her that could easily lead to her going solo, not that her outfit is in anyway pulling her down, a thought she was reluctant to dwell into but could easily suggest, the thought had crossed her mind.
Listening to ‘Nomvula- After the rain‘ which she co-wrote will tell you a bit about her song writing prowess coupled with an alluring voice such as she packs will definitely make her stand out far more than any other solo artist.
I am almost tempted to explore this line of thought, as I imagine what the world would have been if Beyonce had not braved the cold and discomfort of being a lone crooner. How Michael Jackson would have never become the legend he was if he didn’t step out of the pack, maybe, just maybe, Zolani Mahola could be amongst this group of mega icons.
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