By Cherrol Skosana
The multi-award winning singer, song writer and producer, Zonke Dikana
has recently released her highly anticipated fifth album titled L.O.V.E(Living
Out Various Emotions) This follows the release of her new single Tonight in April, which is the opening single of her
full-length album in three years.
HER MUSICAL GIFTS
Over the past fifteen years, Zonke has managed to
successfully use her musical gifts to be where she is today. She is one of the
most important artists working on the continent today. She is well-known for
her hit maker album Ina Ethe which
was certified platinum following its release in 2011. Zonke is known for always being a deeply
intuitive songwriter, capable of writing songs of immense emotional impact.
Not only has she written her own songs but she has done
writing for other artists including Tsepho Tshola, Winnie Khumalo, Mafikizolo
and Thebe amongst many others. “My song writing just happens on its own. It’s
involuntary and I don’t know how to explain it,” she tells, “What I do know is
that often the best songs are the ones written from a place of pain.” It was her father, the late Vusi Dikana who
said to her music is what you feel there’s no rule book. This lesson remains
the guarding force in her resolute focus on bringing her musical vision to life
though song writing, arranging, producing and backings.
ON THE NEW ALBUM
Zonke says when it comes to her fifth album studio album,
she didn’t shy away from creating music that signals the year it was made
in. She is more self-directed in her
music-making than she’s ever been in her music-working career. “I don’t worry
about relevance or sit and think about how I am going to make my sound ‘now’. I
am only true to my artistic journey which has always been about not following
where others have gone, but about starting something new,” she says.
“I just went with my heart with my heart on this album and
my heart wanted me to write about love-sometimes in a very light-hearted
manner. Some songs are very playful and I hope people will find themselves
laughing along the lyrics on songs like Best
Days of My Life,” she explains.
L.O.V.E is about the different emotions of love. Zonke takes you on a journey full of emotions,
she is no stranger to composing from the darkest place. However, this time
around the nine tracks from her album
tell a different story.
L.O.V.E showcases
Zonke’s ability to use Xhosa to convey the subtleties of game-playing that new
love can bring and her abiding devotion to the language of her roots is
threaded throughout L.O.V.E. Her new album’s lyrics are wholly determined
by the melodies that arrive in her mind (often in the middle of the night). “I
don’t know what’s going to come out, even seconds before I open my mouth to put
words to the music. But when I do, there is something that feels so right about
how the lyrics work with the melody that I can get goose bumps myself,” she
shares.
“I thank God every day that I’m a musician. For both the
creator and the listener, there’s something extraordinary about what music
brings and I’m continually grateful that I’m part of that,” she concludes.
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