PILANI BUBU

Named by Le Monde newspaper as one of the artists to watch in 2022, South African singer Pilani Bubu has drawn on her roots and origins, to tell the story of her identity, traditions and culture in this new album. She shares the stories of South Africans past and present, through traditional songs and her own contemporary versions.

Pilani Bubu is a storyteller with a unique voice. Her new album is a fusion of traditional South African folk styles, from Zulu Mbaqanga Funk, Mpondo songs, to Xhosa and Tswana folk rhythms. Her irresistible music, which is also influenced by soul, jazz and funk, is interwoven with spoken word interludes. In Pilani there is a desire for integrity and sobriety that translates into a cappella songs accompanied by bass, as if to recall the essence of the traditional folk music that inspired the contemporary songs and poems she has written.

Folklore Chapter 1 begins with a series of songs that have aggrieved women as their protagonists: Mama Ka Sibongile, Makoti and Baile speak of domestic violence and are responses to the growing statistics of absent fathers; (nearly 60% of households in South Africa). Often women stay in abusive marriages despite the pain, so as not to humiliate their families. The album ends with a fundamental question about the education of young men and toxic masculinity. In South Africa, African men and tribes are influenced by the rite of passage to adulthood. Qula Kwedini and Qula question the ritual of circumcision and a brutalising view of masculinity – is this the only way to teach young men about life?

There is a thread and a flow to this album, with key transitions interweaving the tracks; the repetition of the tracks is necessary, it helps to underline the message running through these stories. For example Boom Che is a modern interpretation of a folk song that celebrates and honours women and Theza Inkuni pays homage to its most original version. Music blends with poetry and spoken word, reinterpreting South African folklore for generations to come.