For the TRUELOVE 2012 December issue, then-rising star Zahara sat down with Tokiso Molefe to reflect on her incredible rise to fame.
In her own words, this is what the late star has to say.
“Whatever you want in life, you will get it – you must just keep pressing on,” says singing sensation Zahara in her best Nelson Mandela impersonation. The words she chooses are a testament to her own life.
Born Bulelwa Mkutukana in the Eastern Cape, the singer hit the country’s music scene like a tornado when, just 72 hours after its release, her debut album Loliwe had sold out. And 19 days later, it had sold more than 100 000 copies, achieving instant platinum status.
Zahara had followed the only other artist to break these types of sales – Brenda Fassie, whose album Memeza sold over 500 000 units within weeks of its release. Soon Zahara graced the pages of local newspapers, the covers of magazines and filled both TV and radio spots while fans sang her praises on social networks.
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So impressive was her work that she landed five nominations for this year’s Metro FM Music Awards, including Best Newcomer and Best Female Album.
“When I was writing my songs I always thought it would be enough even if one person heard them, but now it’s the whole country,” she says.
She started penning her songs in 2006, after funds to study Office Management and Technology at the Walter Sisulu University ran out and she had to drop out.
“I’d sit on a cliff and write,” she recalls. It was in that year she also learnt to play acoustic guitar. “I taught myself how to play by watching DVDs and mimicking how different artists would manoeuvre their fingers on the strings.”
She started performing in clubs and at government events in East London. “I’d been singing Loliwe for two years before the whole country heard it.”
And, as fate would have it, it was in one of those venues that music hotshot TK Nciza, of TS Records, spotted Zahara.
“When he approached me and told me he’d be back, I didn’t take him seriously because he was not the first to make empty promises.”
But TK kept his word and returned with his wife Nhlanhla, of Mafikizolo fame. “When she heard me sing, she said they couldn’t leave without me.” What followed was a series of first times for the newly discovered starlet.
She also learnt the name of the guitar notes for the first time when she recorded her album.
Her stage name, Zahara, is also relatively new because for a very long time she was known as Spinach because of her love for the leafy vegetable.
“Zahara means blossoming flower, much better than Spinach,” she laughs.
Raised by her domestic worker mom and factory worker dad, she’s determined not to let fame go to her head and is getting guidance from the TS Records family.
“I always watch how DJ Sbu and sis’ Nhlanhla treat fans and the media. Their humanity shines through and they never look down on anybody. I never want to forget where I come from.”
