Creating healing through melodies and rhythms

Soweto born muso, Buhlebendalo Mda captivated South Africans as part of the founding members of the Soweto acapella group, The Soil, made up of two brothers, leader singer Ntsika Ngxanga, and beatboxer Luphindo Nxanga.

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Nearly 18 years of making music together, the musician’s solo work continues to turn heads for the right reasons.

“I remember the last song that came to me I was still within The Soil, that said wake up, you have a bigger message that you need to spread and that is not for you and the group but for yourself alone, I think it was ‘Mama Ndiyahamba, where I was actually like this is me and I think those voices and that sound yanked me out of the comfort that I was in within the soil. And I think it was actually my ancestors wanted me to spread my healing work through my music,” Mda explains.

The mother of one, who in 2019 announced intentions to focus on solo projects, while continuing as part of the group describes her music as a healing to self and her audience. Her robust and distinct sound, encompasses influences of jazz, soul, afro pop, taking a page from some of her favorites like the late Busi Mhlongo, and Miriam Makeba among others.

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“I create to heal myself, and I create to use the same healing to heal others. For me every performance is a ritual. Every performance for me is a form of surrender.

“And in order to surrender, I need to summon whatever source I surrender to. It is with respect for the messages that were implanted in me,” she further unpacks.

“As I always say I don’t perform for physical beings, I perform for the spiritual beings that accompany the physical. I feel like I am self-discovering and discovering my roots and I am merely depicting what I hear and feel as I go.”

Buhle, notes that her creative process always begins with a bass- which threads through her music, almost synonymous to a beating drum. Mda, who has worked with Sipho Sithole, founder of Native Rhythms, noted that the world class producer was a creative who is open to how other people create, something which she enjoyed.

“I never write when I am happy. It’s really weird but true. It has to be some traumatic experience or trigger response. When an idea comes to me most of my songs, I receive a bass first.

“That’s why it comes across heavily in my music. And I believe that the bass for me at least represents the drum as well. I don’t even have a high pitch voice so I think even those vibrations are part of my creative source.

“I build up from the bass and everything that comes to me is just a step kind of buildup and I close myself into the booth and I start writing.”

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The musician released her debut solo project, after five years in making since 2016, citing it was a response to the lack, thereof, and yearning for healing that the nation desperately needed.

She adds that she is inspired by women, the LGBQI and children- which are dominate themes.

The body of work, titled Chosi, which she released in 2020 seeks to tell the story of her self- healing and speak out on struggles faced by women.

Through the 13 track album, her activism and stance on gender based violence (GBV) can be felt on ‘Ntab’ ezimnyama’ and ‘Mdali’ where she bluntly and unapologetically addresses Femicide.

“In the same album, she further pens a dedication song, I salute you, which is a celebration anthem which pays homage to women and their struggles.

“These are the songs that need to be spread out. Just like Mriam Makeba did when we were in the shackles of apartheid. They created music to bring awareness,” she said. “It’s exactly that, I was just tired of posting and marching.

I feel like I’ve been to all shutdowns, I felt like I’ve shouted so much in these streets and on Instagram, so how about I shout on something that will be carried through generations because we forget the hashtags, we forget the marches, we forget the slogans, but music carries the history.

“It will remain a part of our history that tells the struggles of what it means to be women, mothers and black people in this country.”

Talking about her future plans, her evolving sound and possible collaborations, Mda shared she was down to jam it up with any creative which felt right.

She continues to share her music through the Soilsista Projects Collective she founded, to celebrate women’s achievements, which she hosts jam sessions across the country. The collective, according to Mda, serves as an outlet for women in the creative industries to collaborate.

“It is still early to be talking about the new album”, she says in a chuckle. “I don’t think two years is enough time for the messages that I sent out. Because it took me five years to create the album and I suppose maybe because I wasn’t as aligned as I am now.

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“But I am open to working with other people, I have been in with Zimbine, a vocalist from Cape Town and avid guest on jam sessions.

“I also recorded with Tabia in 2021. I am at a space where I want to create, I want to spread my wings, and to use my voice in other genres. I am still going to use my activism, and still complain because I am sad.

“It’s not nice in this world especially for queer and LGBTQI communities. It’s not nice for women and children so why must we pretend when it isn’t.”