KZN-born, Randburg-based singer-songwriter Thembalethu Jiyane pencils the power of music
Female local performer mirrors the message behind her musical art.
After Thembalethu Jiyane’s (23) jaw-dropping performance at the Young Rebel Recording Studio in Ferndale, she shares how singing and songwriting have become a major part of who she is.
She writes:
I’m a singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal and later moved to Sharonlea.
I’ve been making music since I was 10 years old and it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I sing about the joys and perils of life because it helps me process and heal. I sing because it’s my offering to the world. It is one of the ways I show my love.
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Some of the inspirations for my lyrics and storytelling are the first two voices that I grew up listening to which are Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey. My mom would play their CDs loud in the car and at home. The three of them sparked my love for songwriting.
My music is a mirror made up of all my experiences. It’s soulful and it has a sound palette that’s made up of everything I love or have loved in the past. From RnB to hip hop, gqom and traditional Zulu singing.
I’m very passionate about the young, black and queer community. I’ve spent a lot of time in black and rural communities where people like myself don’t get to move around freely and exist as we can to an extent in metropolitan cities. Socioeconomic factors and homophobia depress the black queer community so much so that it’s almost like we don’t exist. It’s not easy for us to merge all our worlds and live a life that’s authentic to us which leaves us alienated even more.
One powerful thing I’ve learned is to take my time. Music is as alive as any art form. You have to be comfortable with it and yourself to be able to relax. Take the hard days in stride, as we do with anything we love and want to grow.
The best advice I’ve ever received was ‘don’t try, just do it. Trust your ideas and execute them to your highest capabilities and do everything from your stomach’.
If I could change one thing about the industry it’d be making sure that children and young aspiring artists all over have the resources and guidance they need more accessible to them.
I am happy to share that I’ll be releasing a few singles and an EP this year soon so everyone should watch out for that.
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