South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela will release a new album, ‘Questions and Answers’, next month. The project is preceded by three singles: ‘Questions and Answers’, ‘Setšhu sa Ditamati’, and ‘Let There Be Peace’.
In an interview, Mahlasela described the album’s central theme. “People have got a lot of questions about what is happening right now: about crime, about injustices. People need answers, and we need to get to a space where there is peace, justice and equality,” he said.
A Career Built on Ministering, Not Hits
Mahlasela’s approach to recording has always been deliberate. “I’ll never sign a contract that says I have to do an album every year. That’s not possible. I only go to the studio when I have material, when it’s the right time,” he said. “My music has been growing steadily, gradually. And it stays there. People love it, because that’s the accent of Vusi Mahlasela.”
He rejects the label of hitmaker. “Mahlasela is not about hits. I’m ministering through my music. I’m not doing this to become a star or whatever,” he said. That stance has not prevented his work from reaching wide audiences. His song ‘Silang Mabele’, a call for collective action against poverty, won Best Song at the South African Music Awards in 1998, where he also took home Best Male. The track later gained international exposure when it appeared in Gavin Hood’s Academy Award-winning film Tsotsi in 2005.
Roots in Activism and Collaboration
Mahlasela’s writing draws on a history of political engagement. During the 1980s he was a member of the Congress of South African Writers (COSAW), which connected him with artists, writers and musicians. Poet Lesego Rampolokeng became a close collaborator and introduced him to author Nadine Gordimer, who funded his guitar lessons.
In 1990, a performance at a London festival caught the attention of Warrick Sony of Shifty Records. Sony and his business partner Lloyd Ross persuaded Mahlasela to record his debut album, When You Come Back, initially pressed on 500 cassettes and later released widely through a partnership with BMG Africa. Mahlasela has downplayed comparisons between ‘Silang Mabele’ and Sankomota’s ‘Now Or Never’, stating that his song was rooted in a childhood tune and written to address hunger, poverty and agricultural revolution.
Music as Diagnosis and Healing
Mahlasela views his role in broad, almost pastoral terms. “When I was in school, I always wanted to become a doctor or a priest. And lately somebody told me: but you’re already doing it with your music. You’re preaching, you’re teaching, and you’re also healing with your music,” he said. “I’m the kind of doctor who has to diagnose problems in the society, put it through my work, sing about it, and let the people debate those issues and come up with solutions.”
He continues to write prolifically. The three new singles, he confirmed, are drawn from the forthcoming full-length album. “If you don’t understand the answers, go back to the questions,” he said.
