When the millennial wave of hip hop surfaced, she was one of the biggest female faces in the frontline.
Although she released her debut mixtape at the age of 16, her first album dropped when she was 20 years old.
Now as she approaches 29 years of age, she has crossed off more than just making music on her bucket list.
The self-declared 'queen of rap' is now known as a multi award-winning musician, an academic, reality TV star, a podcaster, the first South African female rapper to own a shoe line, an ambassador of a sparkling wine brand and also a voice-over artist.
Gearing up for the music video drop of her new single, Genesis Gabriella Tina Manney, who’s affectionately known as Gigi Lamayne, tells Drum that it is time to make her comeback in the music space.
To her, there was no better comeback than with a song celebrating one of the country’s most prolific actors, Menzi Ngubane.
Growing up, she loved and admired the late actor.
“I believe he’s one of the most legendary iconic thespians of our time. I grew up seeing him on TV, from Generations, Kwakhal’enyonini before as a child to seeing him [recently] on Isibaya as Ngwenya. I’ve always felt like there is a lack of celebration when it comes to people in the arts industry. We don’t mind doing it for football players and athletes but not so much for artists.”
Read More | When Somahashe was alive, I was spoiled. My husband did everything for us, says wife of Menzi Ngubane
“He played a huge role in my childhood – a very resilient kind of actor, lots of character, lots of ‘proudly South African’,” she adds.
When the idea sparked to pay homage to the actor that died from a stroke after suffering from kidney disease for about a decade, Gigi reached out to his family and foundation for their blessing.
The song’s proceeds will be going towards the Menzi Ngubane foundation and the causes he stood for when he was alive.
Unfortunately, the female musician did not get to meet Menzi. His passing is a dent in her heart that she has been carrying for two years.
She sat down with herself and said, “this person can never be forgotten”.
“Now with the arrival of TikTok and social media, I would see videos passed around of some of his greatest acting scenes and I did not want to seem like I was trying to monetise his death, which is usually the case in certain situations. So, it had to be from a good place, it took a lot of time, getting in contact with the right people and getting the verses together.”
“I wanted it to be perfect,” she adds as she admits that she was patient with the song.
To keep his spirit alive in the song, the Ice Cream hitmaker approached artists who resembled Menzi’s character to feature in the song.
By featuring Lady Du, Robot Boii, Ntosh Gazi and Mustbedubz, Gigi wanted it to mean something.
“I just wanted it to tell a story. Even when you watch the music video, you will see that the story is about fixing amaTaliyane you know. That kind of Italian [clothing vibe] that our dads were giving in Soweto in the 80s and the 90s. It’s basically showcasing Africa and South Africa in particular to the world.”
Read More | WATCH | Menzi Ngubane’s most iconic roles during his 32 year TV career
Speaking about the message that the rapper also wanted to take out the world, she says, “We need to be a little more patriotic. Even as a Hip Hop artist, I’ve been questioned a lot on amapiano and ‘why are you deciding to do that’. My thing is it (the song) is a fusion of two genres and it’s such an important time for South Africa where I feel like Hip Hop artists need to support the amapiano movement that is creating a global footprint for us.”
She adds that instead of trying to outshine each other, artists need to collaborate on songs that are cross-genres to enrich the national music catalogue.
Since its release on 23 June, the song has surprisingly been received well.
“I am extremely surprised by the media’s support and the fans loving how I sound on amapiano. People are now having fun with it [as a TikTok choreography challenge rises].”
Beyond the song that has earned its spot in the country’s top 40 chart, Gigi has more in store for the year.
As she anticipates for people to watch her in the new Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire animation series as Mukudzei in Adventures of Muku, she also gears up to drop a musical project that features international artists.
She confidently tells Drum that “it’s a queen coming back to claim her crown” more than it is a musical comeback for her.
