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Meet Boohle, the vocalist making people dance right now

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Singing sensation, Boohle is enjoying the success of her career in entertainment.
Singing sensation, Boohle is enjoying the success of her career in entertainment.

She's everywhere right now, or her voice is. She enjoys doing exactly what she loves, singing.

And the fact that all the songs she's on right now make people dance is the icing on the cake. 

Whether it is on the song Mama, on Cassper Nyovest's Siyathandana, Wamuhle  or Inyembezi, Boohle is busy. 

The singer, real name Buhle Manyathi, loves everything about her career right now.

 


"It is exciting and scary, overwhelming sometimes. There is a lot of this happening in the world with this pandemic, it’s a relief knowing that people listen to my music and their mood changes.

"I have heard people say that on a bad day, they play my music and that for me makes me happy. I am really grateful," she says.

Boohle grew up in Vosloorus, East of Johannesburg. Even as a young kid she knew she belonged behind the mic.  

"It all started when I was a kid. I don’t remember anybody telling me do this or do that. I just remember singing with my sisters and at school."

She loved music so much that she decided that was what she was going to do after high school. 

Read more | Why Oskido will never quit working in entertainment – 'Music is my life'

Then she had to convince her family, which was no small feat.  

"At home, we were raised Christian and we were not allowed to listen to RnB songs, so we used to listen to the likes of Ntokozo Mbambo.

"I would think to myself, I wish I could be like her. It is something that was always at the back of my mind. Even though I wasn’t vocalising it," Boohle says. 

So how did she even begin to explain to a Christian family that she was going into studio for hours on end or going 'gigging?'

"It was difficult at first. I mean you have to work so hard until things happen and they see actions. Although I was supported but they didn’t understand it. But eventually, they were very accepting and supportive."

She's so far learnt a few lessons working in music.

"Like what I have learnt in the industry, it’s a fight. You have make sure you have your weapon ready, you have to be smart and focused." 

But she is having the time of her life and says it is sometimes unbelievable. 

Boohle is on one of the biggest amapiano tracks, Siyathandana by Cassper. 

"Someone you grew up watching and admiring, the next thing you are in studio with them. I had to do what I do and that’s sing. It was excited.

"This experience showed me that people are watching from a distance so I have to always do my best."


Although she is on amapiano hit songs so far, Boohle says she is not just a one trick-pony. 

She has her own body of work and has previously worked with the Tshwane Gospel Choir. 

She takes pride in writing songs and not just singing a chorus on a beat. She can write about anything soulful, she tells us. 

"It is one of those things that come naturally to you. I get into studio and I start jamming. I get in the zone and write on the spot. That’s it. 

"From when I discovered the gift of writing at 18, I was writing about love, you know," she laughs.

"Love is always love. Love is everything, I believe it doesn’t matter how old or young you are, everyone wants to feel love and be loved or to at least know what love is."

Read more | Lady Du on making Amapiano hits and her engagement to Andile Mxakaza

While she enjoys all the attention she is getting, she says she often thinks about what tomorrow holds.

"You can’t run away from those feelings, you are in a cut-throat industry where nothing is ever guaranteed. I could be singing today and tomorrow you aren’t relevant. A lot of people were against what I am doing but I had to fight and push through. 

"It is one of those, you have to fight with your mind and work harder," Boohle says.  


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