Soul Singer Zamajobe Sithole Back Into The Scene With Amapiano Single. Once a shining star of the early 2000s with a voice and sound that could be on any soulful Sunday radio playlist, singer Zamajobe Sithole regrets taking a 10-year hiatus from the industry following a toxic relationship whose ending brought her misery. She quickly launched her music career with her debut, Ndawo Yami, in 2004, which was followed by Indoni Yamanzi in 2009. Her debut, Ndawo Yami, achieved gold status for selling in excess of 25,000 copies. She had the world at her feet, having started playing guitar at 17 and performing at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal.
Zamajobe is now back into the scene with new music but she is grappling to comprehend with the industry dominated by amapiano — a sound that didn’t exist when she took a pause from making music in 2013. Zamajobe admits that she could not ignore the amapiano wave and had to succumb to it and gave it her own twist infused with the soulful sound she is known for.
“Amapiano is a very youngish sound. I worked with youthful producers and the youngest is 13 years old. There is a bonus R&B track that was produced by T-Bos Mokwele’s son…I have been enjoying the sound we have created, which is fusing jazz and other sounds. I love the exploration and the creativity.
“Baba Wethu is just a prayer, which is my background in gospel and jazz. I grew up in a gospel background at Pastor Benjamin Dube’s church choir. I am basically putting a prayer into a dance song so that people can allow themselves to pray anywhere they are. I am not the only one because I have been hearing a lot of dance songs with a gospel message.”
While the industry was still appreciating her amazing voice and composing talent, the Afro-soul singer disappeared from the face of the industry, only to re-emerge years later. She says this was due to romance gone wrong, which affected her mental state and that she had wanted to give herself some time to heal. This also included relocating to Polokwane for five years but kept gigging and earning royalties for her music to sustain herself.
“I got in a toxic relationship that really messed up with everything that I believe to the core. I knew nothing about toxic and narcissist relationship and gaslighting (manipulating a partner mentally into them doubting their sanity). But I had to experience them. When the relationship ended I was confused, lost, and I did not know what was wrong with me.”
