R&B and Afro-soul singer Zonke Dikana who hasn’t released an album in a long time has now announced the news that she will be releasing something new and fresh, an album titled L.O.V.E which stands for Living Out Various Emotions. Speaking to City Press publication the star poured her mind out about the new project.
“I’ve never worried myself with themes but this time around I made a conscious decision to just be happy and light – especially coming out of Work of Heart. When we started to record the album, my sister Lulu passed away, so naturally I gravitated towards that painful side,”
“This time around I thought that I just want to be happy and I am happy so let me write songs that say exactly where I am. Therefore the theme is love – L. O. V. E – Living Out Various Emotions. The album takes you on a journey; whether you are happy or annoyed in your relationships, you’ll find a song on this album. There are different emotions love takes you on.”
Zonke has long been one of the most accomplished songwriters in SA. She has written and co-written hits for dance artist Winnie Khumalo, Thebe and the late R&B star TK, and also worked with legends such as Bongo Maffin and Oskido.
“I write songs almost every day, I can have an album that is being released but still continue to write and collect songs. This album, I’d say, took me two years.” One such song is her latest single to be released on Friday 20 April, called Tonight. “I wrote it just after Work of Heart was released – I just had this melody and bassline in my head, so I put the song down. I’ve been listening to that song ever since and it’s going to be my first single. That makes it about two years old.”
She added on her statement on how her approach towards music has changed over the years since he started in music.
“All I cared about was getting that deal, being on stage and impressing someone with my voice. Now I love what I do and I take it so seriously, to the point that it’s all I care for. It’s what I put forth and what I’m known for and everything else for me doesn’t matter. But looking back now, I never really was the person to put myself before the music. It has always been about the music. It’s just that now as a mom it’s important what I write about, what I wear even more. I have always been that person but it matters even more now.” Fans can also look forward to Zonke’s first single since her 2007 Kalawa Jazzmee days, as she collaborates with one of her favourite artists, Kwesta, on Soul To Keep.
The artist also spoke of how she is often completely responsible for doing her music which includes Writing and Producing songs.
“I’m always the writer, doing my own backings, my own producing, arranging and composing. It’s always important for me to feature someone that I genuinely respect and whose music I enjoy. The Kwesta feature was something that I had thought of two/three years ago. For me this was not just a feature because it’s fashionable – I genuinely like him and he is such a cool person. Did I mention that he showed up on his own at the recording? He didn’t have an entourage, not that it’s an issue, but that’s how respectable he is. And he was even two hours early! I just wanted it to be natural and make sense – and Kwesta makes a lot of sense.”
L. O. V. E will be released June 14
