Jols and cheers filled the Spitz shop in Sandton city on Thursday night where a listening session was hosted for Bergville's finest.
Two bulls finally entered the kraal and made the kind of magic that a lot of people were anticipating.
With their single, Umbayimbayi, having gone platinum in just less than two months, many are certain that the album is going to fly off the shelves.
The wait was definitely worth it though as guests at the session got up on their feet for every song that played from Inkabi Zezwe's Ukhamba album that's out for release on 12 May.
‘Inkabi Zezwe’, loosely translated as oxen of the nation, is the name of this collaboration between Big Zulu and Sjava. In a statement by Warner Music Africa (WMA), the term is of “endearment that, when used in the context of music, describes a unified brotherhood that is representative and reflective of the nation”.
Big Zulu (born Siyabonga Nene) and Sjava (Jabulani Hadebe) have come together to make an album called Ukhamba, meaning a calabash bowl.
The name of the album carries a significant connotation.
“The reason why we decided to call it Ukhamba is because we want everyone who’s thirsty to quench their thirst from it,” says Sjava.
Although a calabash is also referred to as a beer pot, Sjava clarifies that the naming had nothing to do with alcohol.
Big Zulu adds that Ukhamba is a traditional pottery bowl that goes around a room of men in a kraal, usually, for them to drink whatever beverage that would be in it, even if it were water. In essence, the album intends to illuminate “uk’bambisana, siz’intsizwa, sidle ndawonye, si phuze ndawonye (the cooperation of men eating together, drinking together)”.
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From appreciating one’s homestead to courting, the album covers various themes that are centred around the Zulu culture, its people and ambitions.
It also features a journey of love and hope.
Despite Big Zulu’s different approach to music with a rich catalogue in hip-hop as opposed to Sjava’s in African trap and Afrosoul, the two say finding a common ground in the recording of the album was seamless.
Sjava says, “I am one person who writes down and believes in writing down his songs, but I don’t even remember writing any lyrics because the way [Big] Zulu’s energy was, allowed it all to flow. Big Zulu is one who doesn’t put things off for a later stage, he’s a now person. I can stay a year or two with a song but he doesn’t, so I was feeding off of that energy. The process of making this album was not difficult at all.”
The sentiment is shared as Big Zulu also says, “Honestly, we were scared of what would come of this and if it was going to be successful but all the songs that we recorded were not doubted or left out of the album. On the first night, we had made three songs already.”
Recalling the experience, Sjava explains that two studios were set up and they would alternate to add their personal touches to each song.
In a video shown at the launch, the two artists are seen in the studio set up in the kitchen of a villa that they had booked, cooking up the project that is to be released on 23 May. Both of their teams dedicated a week in January 2022 to this project and came out with a masterpiece, judging from the Umbayimbayi single.
With snippets of fun outdoor activities and a drive around the KwaZulu Natal green lands where they both hail, the short documentary of the making of Ukhamba shows how the two musical giants extracted inspiration from home.
“This proximity to home meant that the music would be poignant and would carry fragments of the pair’s intimate world, the people that raised them, and the green hills that raise[d] them,” the WMA statement reads.
Both Sjava and Big Zulu were born and bred in Bergville but only met after their breakthrough in the music industry.
With their shared roots, they have now bred a project that they have been yearning to create for a while now.
“We have tried a couple of times to come together and make music but that time wasn’t ours, that’s why we failed then but when this chance presented itself again, which I believe was the right time, everything fell into place,” admits Sjava.
“It wasn’t something we sat down and planned. We tried, it failed then we waited until finally Warner (WMA) approached us with the idea. We thought we’re still going to struggle when we got to Drakensberg but that wasn’t the case. Seven days, we knocked out all the 10 tracks.”
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Mocking him with his lyrics, Muzi Mathibela who was the MC of the launch sings, “Mas’kaka fik’iskhathi sakho, linda! (When your time hasn’t arrived, wait!)”.
The award-winning artist doesn’t only sing but he also practices what he preaches. For him, music isn’t just putting together words in a harmony.
“Through music, I can pass on a message much easier and it reaches all kinds of people, whether young or old.”
In another video shown at the event, co-founder of Nkabi records, Leroy Khoza shares, “When our ancestors speak, our duty is to listen and respond. This collaboration was orchestrated in the spiritual realm. It was supposed to happen and to give healing to our people. This project speaks of everything that affects the lives of our people, it will resonate and connect with people on a higher level. This is the coming together of two spiritual and gifted individuals.”
Another hand that contributed to the making of this project, co-director of 1020 Cartel, Nothando Migogo, who says that she is excited to witness how South Africa will receive and respond to the project.
The duo will be going on an album tour around the country, kickstarting it all at SunBet Arena in Pretoria on 24 June then going to Grandwest arena in Cape Town on 29 July, Carnival city in Johannesburg on 26 August and closing it off back at their home province in Durban at the Kings park stadium on 3 September.
The duo will be going on an album tour around the country, kickstarting it all at SunBet Arena in Pretoria on 24 June then going to Grandwest arena in Cape Town on 29 July, Carnival city in Johannesburg on 26 August and closing it off back at their home province in Durban at the Kings park stadium on 3 September.
