South African Xhosa hip hop artist Efa Ibhinqa Lokuqala has released a new single, ‘Umjondi’, that transforms personal loss into a meditation on friendship, grief and resilience. The track is dedicated to her late friend and fellow artist Brie Lee, who died of cancer at the age of 28.
Before Brie Lee’s death, the two Eastern Cape-born musicians had spoken about one day celebrating the moment a cancer patient rings the hospital bell to mark the end of treatment. That moment never arrived for Brie Lee. Instead, Efa attended her friend’s funeral in the Eastern Cape and then, days later, travelled to Johannesburg to continue the work they had once discussed.
A friendship forged in music
Efa Ibhinqa Lokuqala is no stranger to survival. In 2012, at the age of eight, she survived four gunshot wounds in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. More than a decade later, she supported Brie Lee through a long battle with cancer. Both women, daughters of the Eastern Cape, were building careers in Cape Town’s hip hop scene, a space where women often fight for recognition.
The single’s title, ‘Umjondi’, draws from the isiXhosa word uMjondolo, which refers to informal settlements. It evokes communities shaped by hardship and resilience, a theme that mirrors the lives of both artists.
Music after mourning
Days after Brie Lee’s funeral, Efa appeared on The Mixed Bag podcast with The Original Don Dada. During the conversation, she referred to her late friend with a fleeting smile. “It really sounds silly, that silly girl,” she said, recalling an inside joke that survived the loss.
The single’s release carries the weight of a promise. Efa completed the journey the two had imagined together, turning a story of survival cut short into a completed work. The hospital bell Brie Lee never rang now resonates through the track, a symbol of courage and hope that outlives a single life.
