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Music for Visual Mediums Showcase

Wawee Music

With the growth of visual mediums in the Pan-African landscape, from feature-films to documentaries and series on streaming services, many aspiring artists and composers are seeking to find new and unique avenues to have their creations placed in these mediums. 

This small showcase was conceived to enlist 8 different artists to compose a work that may find itself to be appropriate for the purposes of ‘placing’ it with a visual work of any kind.  

From tribal percussion to Afropop anthems, the composers were challenged to consider the final outcome as a visual product as opposed to simply an auditory experience.

Buya – Bongani Hlengwa

Written in the style of a television thematic song, “Buya” was created with the intention of bringing filmic elements to the style of AfroPop.  Orchestral elements are peppered through the song with the intention of being able to be drawn out and developed depending on the scene that the song finds itself placed in. . 

Bongani is from Soweto, Johannesburg.  Having gained experience from his time as a singer in Mzansi Youth Choir, Bongani is now pursuing a career as a beatmaker, recording artist and producer.

Uzobayini – Lebo Mahile and Khokho Madlala

Written in the style of a television thematic song, “Buya” was created with the intention of bringing filmic elements to the style of AfroPop.  Orchestral elements are peppered through the song with the intention of being able to be drawn out and developed depending on the scene that the song finds itself placed in. . 

Bongani is from Soweto, Johannesburg.  Having gained experience from his time as a singer in Mzansi Youth Choir, Bongani is now pursuing a career as a beatmaker, recording artist and producer.

The Journey – Lungelo Ngcobo

This work was written as a reflective piece, aimed at scenes in African films that might require a sense of poignancy/sorrow. The piano motif is counterbalanced by a tibetan bowl, ringing consistently throughout the work. 

Hailing from Durban, Lungelo is a renowned keyboard player, specializing in both piano and organ.  Besides his work as a composer, he also works permanently at Little Falls Christian Church and as the music director for a variety of South African artists such as Judith Sephuma.

Chilled Winds – Mpho Pholo

This work is a fusion of Nigerian Afrobeats and South African AfroPop.  The orchestral elements, such as the flute, allow this piece to be utilized in television scenes that might require a driving, ostinato-like underscore, such as montages or builds.  

Mpho Pholo – known as 37MPH – is an established music producer and composer, with scores for Isono and The Estate behind him.  As a music director, Mpho has worked on shows as varied as The Metro FM Awards, Coke Studio Africa and South Africa and The Voice SA and NIgeria.

We Know Who We Are – Siki Jo-An

This work was written as a haunting and thematic crossover piece, fusing the styles of Afropop and Japanese Shakhuhachi.  The chorus is mostly sung in isiXhosa, but also utilizes the Japanes phrase “ 強さTsuyo-sa”, which translates to “Strength” in English. 

Shooting to fame as a contestant on The Voice South Africa with her inspired perfomance of “The Click Song”, Siki’s journey has gone from strength to strength.  Siki will be releasing her first single, “So Easy” in May.

Njalo – Skhumbuzo Ndaba

Njalo was written with the intent of being placed as a theme song for a South African film that might require a poignant, yearning energy.  The lyrics describe somebody who, while being constantly hurt by their love interest declares that they will always love that person. 

Skhumbuzo melted the hearts of viewers on the third season of The Voice SA with his isiZulu version of the Afrikaans ballad, “Sonvanger”.  An ex-member of the Mzansi Youth Choir, Skhumbuzo is now working as an aspirant recording artists and composer.

Rhythm Torrent – Thomas Dyani Akuru

This intense work was composed as an intense underscore to be used in urgent or tense scenes in African film or media, such as a car chase etc. The entire work is produced with multiple layers of percussion, all performed and recorded by Thomas Dyani Akuru. 

Son of Johnny Dyani, Thomas has traveled the world as one of the most sought after Latin and African percussionists.  The founder performer of percussion on ‘The Lion King, The Musical’ stage, Thomas has performed with artists as wide ranging as Shakira and Incognito.

Try Again – Zinhle Blose

This song was written as an epic, anthemic song that epitomizes the resilience of South Africans.  

Currently studying music in Johannesburg, Zinhle is an aspiring recording artist and songwriter from Soweto, having gained much of her experience with the Afrikariz choir.