Episode 2: Msaki | The African Imaginary Podcast
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In this, our second episode of The African Imaginary Podcast, Msaki in deep conversation with host Khangi Khoza, reflects on her ancestral energies, salutes her icons, dissects the music industry, and lets us into her creative process.
Msaki is an award-winning South African singer-songwriter. Her voice is one of the most distinctive in the business, delighting club kids in Kenya, folk festival-goers across the USA, and her huge fan-base in Mzansi.
Msaki trained in fine art, graphic design, film photography and curation at Rhodes University, Leeds University, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and East London Technikon.
She is a South African Music Award (SAMA) winning musician, who contributed to Black Coffee’s Grammy Award winning album as writer, composer and artist. She has also collaborated with Sun-EL Musician, Carlo Mombelli, Nduduzo Makhathini, Simmy and Ami Faku, Kabza De Small, Diplo, Ry X others. As a writer and facilitator, she is sought after for writing camps around the world.
At the core of her practice is a commitment to catching and preserving ‘the soul of the song’ as it travels through the music value chain. In this way she shines a light for other independent artists across the continent, including those whose careers she supports through her collective ALTBLK.
Msaki’s practice now merges installation and performance. Her visionary archetype extends to how she parents her 3 kids. She’s a ‘free range mom’ who co-creates their education and play . “Kids are incredible…I don’t know how to explain the things that I’ve seen,” she tells The African Imaginary.
We are thrilled to have her take her rightful place in the African imaginary, which she sees as ‘a circular, communal intelligence’.
Msaki is an award-winning South African singer-songwriter. Her voice is one of the most distinctive in the business, delighting club kids in Kenya, folk festival-goers across the USA, and her huge fan-base in Mzansi.
Msaki trained in fine art, graphic design, film photography and curation at Rhodes University, Leeds University, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and East London Technikon.
She is a South African Music Award (SAMA) winning musician, who contributed to Black Coffee’s Grammy Award winning album as writer, composer and artist. She has also collaborated with Sun-EL Musician, Carlo Mombelli, Nduduzo Makhathini, Simmy and Ami Faku, Kabza De Small, Diplo, Ry X others. As a writer and facilitator, she is sought after for writing camps around the world.
At the core of her practice is a commitment to catching and preserving ‘the soul of the song’ as it travels through the music value chain. In this way she shines a light for other independent artists across the continent, including those whose careers she supports through her collective ALTBLK.
Msaki’s practice now merges installation and performance. Her visionary archetype extends to how she parents her 3 kids. She’s a ‘free range mom’ who co-creates their education and play . “Kids are incredible…I don’t know how to explain the things that I’ve seen,” she tells The African Imaginary.
We are thrilled to have her take her rightful place in the African imaginary, which she sees as ‘a circular, communal intelligence’.
Chapters
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:54 Msaki plays 'Keep or Toss'
- 05:13 The meaning of Msaki's name
- 09:36 Msaki on her stage name
- 10:58 On family and childhood
- 14:30 Lessons from her childhood
- 16:36 Upbringing shaping her personal African imaginary
- 18:06 First enemy
- 23:16 Adversaries in the music world
- 24:22 Your enemies become your prophets
- 25:32 Discovering her musical talent
- 29:35 Jack of all trades, master of...
- 30:38 African and diasporic icons
- 36:11 Creative process
- 41:03 Hollywood songwriting camps
- 43:26 What does the African imaginary mean?
- 45:55 ALTBLK and Msaki's role in the collective
- 50:49 On collaboration and ownership
- 55:14 Msaki's many collaborations
- 01:01:28 Talent vs. hard work
- 01:02:10 Africa is being mined for talent
- 01:03:03 Building ethical and sustainable structures for artists
- 01:08:02 Reflections on gender and relationships in her work
- 01:12:04 On self-love
- 01:13:11 Spiritual practice
- 01:17:06 What legacy would Msaki like to leave behind?
- 01:22:13 What conversations should African creators be having?
- 01:24:39 On parenting
- 01:26:59 Outro
