Bulelwa Mkutukana, better known as Zahara, is a South African singer and songwriter who was born on November 9, 1987. She has 17 South African Music Awards, three Metro FM Awards, and one Nigeria Entertainment Award to her name. Zahara was included to the BBC’s 100 Women list for 2020. In 2021, she was a guest judge on the seventeenth season of Idols South Africa.
Guqa Ngedolo, a new amapiano single by the award-winning vocalist, will be released on Friday. While she was originally sceptical, Zahara stated she felt she was beginning a new era after hearing her voice accompanied by a combination of deep house, jazz, and lounge music, then ended with synthesisers and big percussive basslines.
Her new body of work, according to TimesLive, was written by renowned music producer and longtime friend Mojalefa Thebe, also known as Mjakes. “This was entirely Bhut’Mjakes’ idea.” He’s the one who approached me and suggested I try amapiano, and because I’ve known him for so long, for the most of my career, I figured, ‘why not?'” said the East London-born singer.
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Zahara’s acoustic guitar and Afro-centric sound are consistent with her contemplative songs about life, hardships, and successes.
“As a musician, you’ll always be boxed into a genre or product. But what most people don’t realise is that as musicians, we must be original in order to elevate ourselves and develop with the times, which is exactly what I’m doing.”
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