Buhle mda biography definition
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Buhle Mda’s new album food for the soul
The Soil band member Buhlebendalo Mda’s solo album, Chosi, is being released on digital music platforms on Friday.
The singer has described the 13-track offering as food to feed the spirits of a nation in need.
“The physical is fed enough because we have been feeding flesh for such a long time and forgetting to feed ourselves emotionally.
“I feel that there is no better time than now to focus on matters that are not tangible and parts of ourselves that we always disregard.”
The making of Chosi has been a journey of self-healing and a platform for her to speak out on issues of femicide and difficulties faced by women daily, Mda said.
“I started conceptualising this album about 2016 and 2017, when most of us were shaken by the news of Karabo [Mokoena] being murdered by her ex-boyfriend and other news of femicide.
“I was so angry and scared, feeling like no-one out there is looking out for me (as a woman), so I wrote most of the songs
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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
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Born in Soweto in 1988, Buhlebendalo Mda is known for her vocal prowess and scen presence. She has performed at major festivals like Womad, Queertopia, AfroVibes, and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, amassing a fiercely loyal following. Her debut solo album, Chosi (2020), explores spiritual themes, and her latest skiva, Hele (2024), was crafted during her four-year initiation as a sangoma. Ahead of her performance at Sikelela: The Road to the Barbican on November 9, Buhlebendalo agreed to speak with us about her remarkable practice.
Thembeka Heidi Sincuba: What are your earliest memories of realising you wanted to be a musician, and what influenced you in that direction?
Buhlebendalo Mda: Music bumped into me. I was a very active child in high school. inom remember inom think inom was in like three different choirs within the premises yakoskolong. Being one of the popular children, I just feel like I bumped into music—I found a group of guys on a cipher, and inom joined