Zimbabwean-born but South African-based musician, Edgar Muzah is taking his award-winning album on tour. Picture: Supplied
Every now and then South Africa’s xenophobic tendencies reveal themselves, particularly against Nigerians and Zimbabweans.
But the South African Music Awards’ (Sama) category, the Rest of Africa Award, which recognises and celebrates artists from outside the country, in a small way remedies these tensions.
As a Zimbabwean-born and South African-based musician, Edgar Muzah says he has never been on the receiving end of xenophobia.
“It is a testament of how the industry views it. It really just goes to show that when it comes to the actual industry itself, it is quite accepting of other nationalities into their space,” Muzah told The Citizen.
“I can speak for the industry and say I’ve been welcomed into the space, especially in the Eastern Cape where I’ve been based for the past 14 years. I have been shown love, lots of positivity. I haven’t really experienced the Afrophobia or the xenophobia being directed at me or people in the industry that are not South African.”
In 2024, the Gqeberha-based bassist became a recipient of the Rest of Africa Award for his 2023 album, Son of a Tribe Royalty Edition.
“Having such a category in the South African Music Awards is confirmation of that; that they don’t keep it closed to South Africans only because they know we do collaborate. When you look at my album, 90 percent of the collaborations are with South Africans.”
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Son of a Tribe Royalty Edition is a follow-up to his 2021 project of the same name, Son of a Tribe, for which he had also been nominated before.
Muzah says he was more nervous about the 2024 nomination than his first time at the awards.
“Because I’m thinking to myself [that] I’m nominated in the same category again with different people and if I don’t win, what does that say about my music – is it not good enough?” he shared.
“But I think I had also made peace with the fact that I could win or not win because a nomination on its own is a big deal, being nominated among such great artists and great musicians. Just being mentioned in the same sentence as them is a win on its own.”
Muzah also bagged a nod in the Best Male Artist category and says that gave him a sense of peace. “It kind of made me feel ‘I’m okay’. I felt like, even if I don’t win, this is still a big deal.”
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Muzah is planning on touring parts of the country to promote the album and also celebrate his Sama success.
He has confirmed shows in Cape Town and Durban for next month. “For these first two shows that we’re doing in Durban and Cape Town, I will have special guest Angelyric, who is a spoken word artist from Joburg who features on my album.”
Muzah added that he will introduce a new artist from his adopted province, the Eastern Cape.
“I’d really like to take it to Joburg, Pretoria, East London and Bloemfontein,” he said.
Muzah also has ambitions of a pan-African tour, including his country of birth. “I’d like to take it home; it hasn’t been there,” he says of Son of a Tribe Royalty Edition in Zimbabwe.
He also mentioned the likes of Nigeria and Kenya.
“[We’re] planning a European leg of it, which includes Germany, the UK, France, Spain and possibly Italy as well. That’s the plan and hopefully we’ll be able to get success within that space.”
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