Not just another gospel artist – a rare gift
Palesa's debut album will launch soon
“My mom told me that visitors would bribe me with 10 cents and I never refused to sing and perform for them,” said Palesa Ngwenya.
This 38-year-old Wilro Park resident has always dreamed of being able to bring people together to worship as one. “I have been singing since I was very young. It started at Sunday School, then I progressed to the youth choir of the church and I ended up singing with the senior choir as well. I wanted to step out and do something different, and I wanted to see people worship in different languages. That is why I decided to record songs in different languages, including Chinese, Spanish, English, Tswana, Venda and Zulu,” she said with a big smile.
Palesa’s first single – I need your power – was released in May this year. “The single was produced by South Africa’s very own music icon and award winner Mjakes Thebe and Fani Ntlama. Someone asked me if I didn’t want to submit this single to the Ingoma Music Awards, and I decided to do it – after all, I had nothing to lose,” Palesa said.
She said that she was very happy when her name was called as the winner in the Best Gospel Artist category, and the award helped to open many doors for her. “Winning the award was a very humbling experience for me. I was the newcomer in the category and competed against artists who had four years’ or more experience as well as a huge following. I was overwhelmed to see all the support of the people who voted for me, and am grateful to each one,” she said.
https://www.facebook.com/PalesaNgwenyaSA/videos/1719538288120506/
Palesa wrote all the songs on her first CD, which will be released on 27 October and will be available at all CNA stores. She said this CD was a message of hope and with it she wanted to dare people to dream, and said, “Dreams tend to die if you do not keep them alive. If they are only on paper they do not carry any power, but, as soon as you step out and apply these ideas, they will have power. No dream is impossible.”
She added that with the CD, she wanted to encourage people to stretch their minds and move out of their comfort zones. “With he different languages I used for the songs, I want to make people realise that we all worship with one heart, and, instead of running away from the differences, we should rather try and met each other halfway and embrace our differences,” she said.
Palesa is not the only one in the family who loves to sing. “I have been married for 14 years to Jay-Jay Ngwenya, a pastor at Harvest Day Church, and we have two beautiful sons, aged six and 11. Jay-Jay and I perform together on a regular basis and even our sons are very musical. My oldest one will quickly tell me if I am singing off key!” she said, laughing.
For more information on Palesa, visit her Facebook page (PalesaNgwenyaSA), Twitter account (@PalesaNgwenyaSA) or Instagram account (@PalesaNgwenyaSA)
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