She calls for her day of blessings and asks God to come through for her in her Lelilanga song. In the very same song, she asks for wisdom, success and respect.
It’s as though she knew this would be the combo to get her as far as she has.
From the release of her hit song and debut album titled Umsebenzi, Naima Kay earned the awards for best newcomer at the Metro FM awards and best female artist at the South African Music Awards (SAMAs).
These, among others, are the greatest highlights in her musical journey.
“My biggest highlights were firstly when I won my first ever award as a newcomer for my album titled Umsebenzi; when I won a SAMA award for best newcomer in 2013 and also winning another award [at] the Metro FM awards for best female artist.
“[Another highlight was] working with the biggest producers like the late Robbie Malinga, having a chance to share a stage with Mam Dorothy Masuku at the Durban Jazz Festival and also opening for Kenny Latimore at the same event was just a bonus for me and I still want to add more on my bucket list I’m not done,” she tells Drum.
Her debut album couldn’t have gotten any status below gold because of the award-winning producers that she worked with on it.
Read More | For two years Naima Kay was in an abusive relationship. Now she’s using her music to fight GBV
The late Robbie Malinga and Mojalefa ‘Mjakes’ Thebe worked their magic and that’s how Naima Kay, real name Lungile Khumalo, shot for the skies between 2013 and 2016.
After a much-needed break from music production, the songwriter and Afro Jazz singer is now back with another gem produced by Mjakes called Uyisthandwa Sam.
When writing this song, her intention was to promote love.
“The message I wanted to put out there is to promote love in a relationship and how you express your feelings [when] you’re in love with someone - you are willing to go an extra mile to show the person that you truly love him hence there’s a part on the song that says ngizokuphekela ngikuwashele (I will cook and wash for you), so the aim was to spread love.”
This is Naima Kay’s first single since her November 2021 release with Kelly Khumalo titled uMlilo which added to her catalogue of three albums.
To show that she’s “back by full force” and “more than ready”, she makes a double comeback with another song being Wamshiy’untombazane.
During her hiatus, the award-winning singer was still performing at gigs when she was booked but most of her time was spent behind a sewing machine.
“I love music but another thing that I love just as much is sewing. I love fashion and dressing myself, so I pursued it further and went to sewing school.”
Like many other artists, the Covid-19 pandemic forced music to the backseat of her life because “there was no movement at all, we were so affected especially [as we were] sitting at home and couldn’t get any gigs at all. It was a huge turnoff and disappointment because you couldn’t even have the energy to go to studio to record.”
The lockdown did not entirely keep her down though as she took some time to plan, prepare and start a nationwide “Sekwanele Tour” based on gender-based violence which will continue for the rest of the year.
Read More | Naima Kay on her new single Imimoya and how music helped her heal after losing three family members
“I started the first tour here in my home ground at the Durban Playhouse and I’m still gonna do more cities as well. Also, I’ve been working with other artists from other labels e.g Afrotainment album titled Inkedama featuring Kabza De Small and another Amapiano song I did with Sosha from 705 records.”
It is only the beginning of her comeback as she is also working on an album titled Queen of Da South which is set to drop end of August this year.
Expanding her catalogue and tapping into more genres is top of her list as she tells Drum that “I would really love to work with any DJ that does AfroTech and producers from other countries especially internationally I would love to have a project with DJ Cassidy because I’m a fan of his work that he has done and here back at home I would love to work with Thandiswa Mazwai, Zahara, Cama Gwini and Msaki.”
