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Flashmag April 2019 www.flashmag.net
favorite styles of music in one place and cover it all with a blanket of Reggae to pay homage to my father’s style of music.
Younger you weren’t around your father and it’s only at 18, that you finally meet him. All these years how did you live with the fact that your father was a famous artist? did you miss to have him in your early childhood?
Yeah, I met him very late in my young life, he and I, didn’t know about each other, so I never felt like I missed out.
My mom and my dad were young and my father’s career took off in the eighties, when my mom found out she was pregnant with me, my father had gone on his first tour.
She moved to Johannesburg and I guess they didn’t have cellphones then (laughs). My mom got married a few years later, I was still young, so she raised me with my stepdad. They let me know about my father, when I was grown enough to understand, and I did. They allowed me to make means to meet with my father.
.The first meeting with your father how was it ? how did you feel ?
Firstly, it was a shock to find out who he was, and also very intimidating.
I met him through my boss at the time Lebo Mathosa, who faked a studio session where she would need my father’s help, It was not easy to get an audience with my father, he was always busy.
Then I just came out with it and said “apparently I’m your daughter” he laughed and said “do you know how many people claim to be my family” then he showed me the “family file ” I just froze in fear. I told him who my mom was and he looked as if to see if he will see her in me, he called her and they talked.
A few weeks later we did a DNA test for anyone who had doubts. The family welcomed me and the rest is history.
No stranger to the performance circuit and the music industry; you were a backing singer and dancer for the late Lebo Mathosa and Ntando Bangani. What is the main things you learned from these artists ?
I learned a lot from these amazing artists, I learned how to be a stage performer from Lebo Mathosa she commanded her stage and Ntando with a guy called Sandile helped me perfect my writing skills and delivery in the studio, I took what they taught me,
and mixed with my own talent and Nkulee the Artist was born.
By 18 you were with you father, and you saw him perform closely, did you ever dream that one day you will be doing the same thing at world stage?
Unfortunately, I never got the chance to share the stage with my father because he always said “doctors don’t let their kids operate so why should I since this is my work" and he didn’t like for the girls to be in this industry, he thought it’s tougher for girls with all the exploitation going on in the industry. He was very protective of us, but also proud at the same time that his talent translated through all his children.
In 2011, 4 years after the brutal departure of your father you released the album titled My way, how was that particular journey?
The “My Way" album was my second album, my first self-titled album released locally when I was 17 it was a Reggae Jazz album.
My father liked it and gave me and my band some pointers, so when we got signed by Native Rhythms things started to look up and we could then reach the masses all around the world with the GREAT work of Mark Miller Company. Mark Miller played a big role in the building of my career especially after my father passed, He became like a father to me and protected me from anything that the industry throws my way.
Did you miss to have his say, on this album or did he contribute on some songs in that album?
The album or my music in general missed out on a lot of wisdom, he only made me notes on one of the songs “A Beat of Love" and it will always be my favorite “Nkulee" track.