Bulelwa Mkutukana, best known by her stage name Zahara, is a South African singer and songwriter born on November 9, 1987.Her accolades include 17 South African Music Awards, three Metro FM Awards, and one Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Zahara was on the 2020 list of the BBC’s 100 Women. She appeared as a guest judge on the seventeenth season of Idols South Africa in 2021.
The award-winning singer is dropping on Friday a new amapiano track called Guqa Ngedolo.While she was not sold at the idea initially, Zahara said after hearing her vocals supported by a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music; then finished with synths and wide percussive basslines, she knew she was entering a new phase.
According to TimesLive, her new body of work is composed by veteran music producer and longtime friend Mojalefa Thebe, better known as Mjakes. “This was all Bhut’Mjakes’ idea. He’s the one who came to me and requested I try amapiano, and because I’ve known him for so long, most of my career really, I thought to myself: ‘why not?,” said the East London-born singer.
Zahara is synonymous with her acoustic guitar and Afro-centric sound, which she marries with her introspective lyrics about life, struggles and victories.“When you’re a musician, you’ll forever be boxed in a category or offering. But what people don’t realise is that as musicians, we need to be innovative, to elevate ourselves and evolve with the times and that’s what I’m doing,” she told TimesLive.
