Highlights of work experience: Lebo – Lioness
TALENT FINDERS WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHY ON THE PASSING OF LEBO MATHOSA. LEBO YOU WILL BE MISSED. WE WILL REMEBER YOU ALWAYS.
There are few artists working in South Africa together who intrigue as much as Lebo Mathosa.
For many people, Lebo is the ultimate sexy and sassy dance music queen who richly deserved her 2005 SA Music Award for Best Dance Album for Drama Queen. But for others, especially those she works with, Lebo is a single-minded, keenly focused individual (and business woman) who works devotedly in a bid to give her career even more longevity that it has enjoyed so far.
It’s these elements that have combined to turn Lebo’s latest album, Lioness, into such a sublime listen: The 14-track offering (no easy “remix” fillers here) is a delicious coming together of tracks that will have the dancefloor heaving this summer season, songs like “Sweet Love”, “Take Me There”, “Make Way” featuring Junior Dredd (lending the track a ragga feel), “Dance With Me”, featuring her Boom Shaka cohort, Junior as well as Coolio, and current radio hit, “Brand New Day”, both of which feature lyrics penned by Mathosa herself.
But just as attention-grabbing as the upbeat, booty-shaking numbers on Lioness are those which transport Lebo into a musical style that recasts her as an Afro-Pop-slash-traditional singer of substance. You only need to listen to the likes of “Mabhubesi”, “Siyaziwisa” and “Siya Zala Kanjani” to feel a thrill of excitement at just how expansive Lebo’s musical vision is; how capable she is of owning any kind of musical genre.
“Mabhubesi” astonishingly easily blends Lebo’s strong, soaring voice that recalls the likes of Busi Mhlongo with a racy electro beat – and it’s undoubtedly one of Lioness’ strongest tracks. Just as revelatory is “Siyaziwisa” which achieves a similar feat. But it’s her track with renowned maskandi artist, Ihashi Elimhlophe, that is the real gobsmacker amongst the lot: “Siya Zala Kanjani” sets Lebo’s raw, emotion-filled voice against Ihashi’s immensely captivating guitarwork and deep Zulu voice and its nothing short of one of the most special tracks to come out of the South African music scene in 2005.
But to hear just how deep Lebo can go into her traditional roots, then press play on Lioness’s three closing tracks, “Yadlala Ngam’ Indoda”, “Base Ntabeni Ogogo” and “Bayangihleka”, all produced by Malambule for Native Rhythms Productions. Close your eyes while taking in these beautifully produced cuts, loaded with live musicians and you can imagine yourself deep in the heart of Kwa-Zulu Natal, not listening to Lebo, dance music award winner, kwaito innovator, and more.
And just when you thought Lebo could not issue more surprises, she unveils the song, “Should Have Been Me”, a moving song about betrayal co-written by her counterpart in the world of Gospel music, Rebecca Malope. Once again, Lebo transports those listening to Lioness into a different world, this time around evoking feelings of desperation, longing and loss.
Aiding Lebo on her musical journey this time around is producer Christos Katsaltis, who helped Lebo execute her much-talked about vision of recording Lioness is quick-fire time.
“I wanted to do something that challenged me and Christos was amazing in letting me do that. Of course this year (2005) I have been in and out of the country, performing and going to events like the MOBOs in the UK so I needed to fit in the recording. But I chose to do it over such a short space of time – my record company never thought that I could do it but once I was in that studio, it all just flowed.”
Lebo’s totally on-the-mark – there is a naturalness, a flow to Lioness that makes it enjoyable beyond the singles and standout tracks, but as a whole album.
“I had something in me that needed to come out at the right time – traditionally, culturally – and Lioness is that,” Lebo says. The singer adds that that her move even deeper into traditional and Afro-Pop music on the album was something that didn’t surprise her. “I was like a lioness when I recorded this. When she’s hungry she goes hunting and that is what I did on the album – hunt down that music, those people that make me satisfied. It’s exhilarating to be able to do that, and move into different music genres, some of which may surprise people.”
Surprises there are aplenty on Lioness but the truth is that 11 years after she first burst on the scene, Lebo remains one of South Africa’s most relevant contemporary artists. Ask the singer herself why this is and she says simply, “It’s been hard to keep going in this male-dominated industry, but I have never lost my passion for driving my career forward.” For her thousands of fans throughout South African and beyond it’s simply because Lebo has a singing and performing gift, that combines with that much talked about “x-factor” in spades. As Lioness proves, she’s nothing short of the real deal.
About Lebo Mathosa:
In 1994, Lebo shot to fame as the lead vocalists and dancer for Boom-Shaka, a multi-platinum-selling group that remains an icon of post-apartheid South African music. She launched her solo career in 2000 with the single “Intro” that featured on her debut album, Dream. Four weeks after the launch of Dream, the album went Gold and in 2001 Lebo won Best Dance Album for Dream, Best Dance Single for Intro and Best Female Vocalist at the South African Music Awards. Her follow-up, Drama Queen, was released in 2004 and earned lebo a SA Music Award for Best Dance Album.
Her live performances are legendary – and varied. In 2001 Lebo performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Cape Town, the Celebrate South Africa concert in London's Trafalgar Square, on tour in Malaysia and Singapore and for the Malaysian queen. In South Africa, Lebo sang for 16 000 people at Nelson Mandela's 85th birthday celebration, as well as several other concerts (including ones on Youth Day and Heritage Day). In 2002, Lebo performed at an Aids benefit concert in Botswana and Swaziland, for the showing of The Vagina Monologues and on tour in the United States and over the past few years, she has continued to be one of the strongest calling cards on any live event.
Among Lebo’s other achievements has been recording with American star, Keith Sweat on his Africa only album release, acting in South African television shows Generations, Backstage and Muvhango, winning the 2001 Style Best Dressed Woman of the Year Award and being nominated by FHM Magazine as one of Africa's sexiest women. She was also the very first African artist featured on MTV base when it began broadcasting early in 2005.
|
