It's been a rollercoaster of a time for him.
First, he was dealing with immeasurable grief after his father, Sihlangusihle Jeffery Khanyile, was shot and killed in January.
Then he was on a high after bagging a Grammy for best global music performance with Nomcebo Zikode and Wouter Kellerman for their song titled Bayethe.
But that high was short-lived and Zakes Bantwini was thrown back into the grips of grief again when he heard the news of the death of fellow artist AKA, real name Kiernan Forbes.
It reminded him of his father's recent death.
It’s a rollercoaster that has prompted him to hit the brakes on his gigs for the next month.
“I am not doing any gigs for the next month because I am paranoid,” says Zakes Bantwini.
With everything that’s been happening, he tells Drum that he is in limbo between celebrating his win and mourning.
In a mood as blue as the weather on Monday afternoon, the 42-year-old reflected on how overwhelming the past month has been.
While he was expected to be in high spirits after coming home with a big international music award, when we meet him, he's sombre as he talks about the scourge of artist killings in the country.
Read More | Cassper Nyovest's tribute to AKA - 'Please send all your love to the Megacy and family'
“We are all fearful and when you have fear, you have to think again about going to a gig, about posting your show on your Instagram stories,” the Osama hitmaker says.
He adds that the recent killing of AKA took him back to the pain he felt when his father was also shot four times in the head a few weeks ago.
“Nobody is supposed to die especially through somebody else’s will. We live in such trying times and it makes you worry because no one is ever brought to book when such things happen.”
Putting the breaks on his gigs for a month is only the beginning for Zakes, as he prepares to bring the curtain down on his illustrious music career.
The producer and DJ plans to hang his boots after the release of his fourth album, which he’s working on currently. Speaking to Drum, the multi-award-winning artist says the album is the final thread in his relationship with Universal music.
“When I release this album, I will be done. My relationship with Universal will be over and I will be a free agent, I will be a free man."
After more than 20 years in the music industry and seeing the growth of the industry in Durban, the businessman says that he has ticked all of his boxes now.
“It’s over for me, I think I have done everything that I ever wanted to do in the music industry. I have a Grammy, what more do I want?”
Read More | Hero's welcome for Zakes, Nomcebo and Wouter as they arrive from winning a Grammy
For Zakes, winning the Grammy is not only a dream that has come true but also an intentional achievement.
“When I started music, I knew that I wanted to win a Grammy. When I went to school, I was like, there’s no way that I would spend four years studying music and then I’m not going to have a Grammy.”
When making Bayethe, he says that himself, Nomcebo and Wouter “went into studio making a song for a Grammy. We were clear. We looked at what the category wanted and we made a song based on it. We knew that we were not making a song for radio [or Youtube clicks].”
And for this reason, he had a feeling that they had already won over Burna Boy's hit song, Last Last, before they even went to the awardS ceremony in Los Angeles as the song had the “originality and authenticity” that the category required.
Bringing out these traits in the song is the maskandi guitar, Zulu lyrics and a flute with no sample element in it.
Despite Burna Boy's charged reaction, Zakes says that it doesn't matter whose name is on the award, the victory is for all Africans.
"Everybody who was nominated there deserved to win but we have to celebrate this win as Africans because it could've gone to India, China or South America but it came to Africa."
In the same breath, the KZN-born artist believes that the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) have the potential to be on Grammy-standard but "is compromised by its judges".
"I am totally against the SAMAs judges because they have robbed us of the SAMAs. Today, we don't trust the SAMAs because of the judges."
According to him, "People who should be judging anything that is through the SAMAs should be music enthusiasts at the highest level, should have studied music and at least be in the music industry" and not people who "studied marketing and happened to work at a radio station [as a music compiler]" before being appointed a SAMAs judge.
This, his last year in the frontlines, is going to be busy. He's completing a Harvard qualification in music and before he bows out, he's going to throw the mother of all festivals, Abantu, set to take place in Cape Town later this year.
Now that's bowing out in style.
