Legendary South African musician, Thandiswa Mazwai brought her soulful sounds to Cape Town as part of her Sankofa album tour in partnership with Castle Milk Stout. The celebrations kicked off in Johannesburg and included a tour in the US before captivating audiences at the Artscape Theatre Centre this past Saturday.
The atmosphere was electric, and the venue was filled to capacity with eager fans who erupted in applause as Thandiswa Mazwai took to the stage. Shedding some light on the title of her album, she explained that "Sankofa in the Ghanaian language, Twi means to go back and fetch what’s been left behind - what is important, what honours you, and what needs healing.” Asserting that, "This is the year of Sankofa.” Recorded in Johannesburg, Dakar, and New York, the album combines archival Xhosa music, jazz and west African rhythms. It includes songs produced by Meshell Ndegeocello, Chris Bruce, Nduduzo Makhathini, Tendai Shoko and Thandiswa.
Thandiswa also marks another significant milestone as her seminal album, Zabalaza, celebrates its 20th anniversary. The event was a poignant celebration, captivating the audience with an emotional journey that explored themes of identity, loss, healing, and acceptance. She paid a heartfelt tribute to departed industry icons, including the late Bra Hugh Masekela, delivering a moving rendition of his renowned song "Stimela" (Train).
Images of late struggle stalwarts Mama Winnie Mandela and Steve Biko, alongside scenes from the 1976 riots, added depth to an already powerful performance. Thandiswa drew inspiration from the audience's energy, leaving her heart on the stage. As this marked the final performance of the tour's last leg, it truly stood out as a remarkable moment.
Reflecting on her stellar performance at an intimate brunch the following day, she said, “I felt the love,” affirming that it’s mutual. When Thandiswa performs, it’s a spiritual experience which evokes different emotions and she leans into the moment allowing the audience to lead at times. “It’s the audience’s show (chuckles)…Sometimes the audience sings before, during and after the show, so I’m just really responding to that. I’m responding to the fact that there’s so much love in the room. People left home already screaming my name and I can feel it. On another note, everytime I have to go on to any stage, I’m extremely nervous, it’s not easy for me. That’s because I really want magic to happen in the room.
It’s important to me for something spiritual to happen in the room, and sometimes it doesn’t. When that happens, it’s very sad but I’m really pushing for that when I’m on stage. Like, let’s get out of our bodies, let’s just exist in this kind of fellowship together. It’s me surrendering myself in order to become a vessel for the audience’s healing journey or spiritual “something.” It’s just that beautiful synergy between the audience and I, we’re all doing it together!”
On her collaboration with Castle Milk Stout, she said, “I’ve had a relationship with the brand for a while now, I did a campaign with them a couple of years ago. This particular one started after they sent me a care package, and I said thanks, what else can we do? (Chuckles). They were really excited to jump on and support the tour and something about it matches.” Enlightening that she doesn’t want to refer to it as brand alignment as she doesn’t consider herself a brand but a traditional artist. Affirming that the partnership is comfortable and makes sense.
Marketing Manager for Castle Milk Stout, Khwezi Vika weighs in from a brand perspective...
Glamour: Why was it important for Castle Milk Stout to partner with Thandiswa Mazwai particularly on Sankofa?
Khwezi: Thandiswa Mazwai is like family to the brand. We worked with her before in 2018 on a campaign called Clan Beats, and this partnership came about when she put out a tweet saying she’s looking for partners on her Sankofa album launch. As a brand that’s always out there doing social listening and what’s happening on the ground, we picked up the conversation on Twitter. Also, the meaning of the album; the idea of going back and fetching what was taken from us is aligned with the brand purpose of Milk Stout which is about the preservation of African traditions and culture. It was a match made in heaven!
Glamour: Please elaborate on the importance of supporting arts and culture, particularly in the South African landscape?
Khwezi: Castle Milk Stout exists to inspire Africans to rediscover their African values and tradition in a modern world. As the world evolves, technology makes the world move faster. We want to make sure that as Africans, we don’t lose our traditions and values. As a brand how that comes up and shows up is that we’ve got two pillars or two territories we play in, it’s culture& tradition; music falls under culture, and other spaces we activate are art, traditional food, etc. That’s why we decided to partner with Thandiswa on her on music.
Glamour: Castle Milk Stout is known for its commitment to promoting creativity. How do you see the partnership continuing to foster creativity in the future?
Khwezi: I hope this partnership drives a lot of awareness to a lot of young people that play within the space, to see the opportunity of partnering with brands. Especially when the partnership is a very authentic one. You won’t see us at a club popping bottles, it’s not our brand ethos but with a positioning like Thandiswa and Castle Milk Stout, it’s a match, we’re willing to collaborate in way that expresses what the brand stands for.
Glamour: What do you hope that the audience will take away from this experience?
Khwezi: To never lose sight of who we are as Africans. Let’s not lose sight of our values and traditions; where we come from. And people must enjoy Castle Milk Stout in a responsible way.
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