City Buzz sat down with singer/songwriter Gugulethu Khumalo, or as you may know her, Berita.
She has no qualms about pulling out her guitar in a coffee shop and strumming a few chords as she reveals her life story. Born in Zimbabwe, Berita spent most of her childhood with her parents and grandmother in Bulawayo. When her parents got the chance to become dairy farmers in New Zealand, they shipped the whole family over and she admits that, as a result, she had two very different upbringings.
“I always felt like I was going to do something special with my life, something, like I was going to influence someone besides me, but I never really knew what it was,” she said. When she got the chance to study in South Africa, that’s when she discovered that she wanted to perform.
“The beauty of me coming here is that I just got to be alone and I got to follow what I was doing. And God really blessed me …within a year I was recording my album.”
Which, may we add, she did without her parents’ knowledge, even though her stage name, Berita, is her mother’s name. “You can imagine my mother’s shock when she saw her name on a CD. And when my father started listening to it, he wouldn’t stop, he loved it so much.”
Berita considers herself to be extremely lucky, as she had very little knowledge about the music industry and how things were done. “Now that I’ve been in the industry for two years, I know more and I’m learning more about who I am. I’m just happy that through it all, I’ve just been able to be myself and stay the person I was raised to be.”
She has always known that she wanted to make music that would be identified as African music. “I wanted to make music that was going to cross boundaries. I think that I’m still getting there.”
She’s certainly working her way up. She represented South Africa in the Netherlands for Mandela Day celebrations, and collaborated with two of her musical idols, Hugh Masekela and Oliver Mtukudzi on her latest single, Mwana Wamai.
However, no matter how many gorgeous, soul-jerking videos she makes, she admits she will always be in it for the rush of performing.
“I love performing, I love being in front of people. Every time that I do that, that’s my highlight.”
Thandolwethu
Sukundixhesha
Instagram: @berita_afrosoul
Twitter: @Berita_afrosoul
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BeritaKhumalo
