SA’s darling singer spends day with fans
Zonke recently promoted her fourth studio album at Festival Mall – but she did much more than that for her adoring fans
MEETING Zonke Dikana for the first time didn’t at all feel like I was meeting a multi award-winning musical sensation.
Instead, my short interview with her felt like I was catching up with my older sister.
Humble, graceful and extremely polite (at some point I explained to her that I wanted to first take photos of her with her fans before speaking to her and she nodded kindly, with no sign of annoyance, unlike, you know, other celebrities would probably do), the R&B and Afro-soul singer took time out of her busy schedule to promote and have an exclusive signing of her new album “Work of Heart” at Musica Festival Mall on September 27.
Fans gathered and waited eagerly in a long queue to get their copy of Zonke’s album signed, and, of course – take a selfie so they can boast to others on social media that they met her – I did too.
Although I had listened to her music and watched her videos and live performances many times before, I was still taken aback and found myself in awe of her presence (yes, I had a little groupie moment).
Not only is she insanely talented and has one hell of a striking, unique voice, she is also kind-hearted, beautiful and mindful of how she engages with people, especially her fans. She shows care and sincerity. She’s also very well-spoken.
“I can’t write music, have people buy it, and then act cocky towards them – I just don’t understand that concept. I guess maybe it’s also because of how I was raised; my parents were very down-to-earth,” explains Zonke.
I couldn’t let Zonke leave without her singing one or two lines from my favourite song on the album – the first hit single “Reach It”.
The first time I heard the song on radio, I was ecstatic. Zonke had once again made a classic. And once again, her remarkable voice just shone throughout the track.
The song, she explains, is about reaching for your dream and realising your potential.
“Firstly, I wanted the instrumentation of the song to be minimal, so that you can pick up on what I’m saying. The song is about motivating others, and I felt who better to do it than someone like me, whose been through so much. If I can still have hopes and dreams of becoming better, than anyone can,” she says with a smile.
Although she wrote all the songs herself and produced the album, her lyrical content has evolved and grown with time, reflecting the changes and developments in her life.
“The content with each album is different from the previous one, because as you grow, you become wiser and you go through certain things,” Zonke expressed.
“Each album becomes more honest than the last. So if you thought ‘Ina Ethe’ was honest, wait till you hear this one.”
Her previous album ‘Ina Ethe’, was released in 2011 and went triple platinum. I have no doubt “Work of Heart” will do the same – if not even better.
