COVER – Sho Madjozi: A resilient force to be reckoned with
Sho Madjozi is a survivor. A resilient individual who always finds ways to reimagine herself. Dust herself off and come back stronger.
Just four years ago, she was flying really high, with her name plugged everywhere and releasing hit after hit, which ultimately led her to meet her idol, John Cena, while performing her song named after him at the Kelly Clarkson show. She was certainly living a dream right in front of our eyes.
But just a month later, she announced the passing of her younger sister, Nyeleti, who was killed in a car accident. That seemingly almost immediately sent Sho Madjozi into a spiral. A lengthy silence ensued thereafter, and curiosity filled the minds of fans.
But it was within those years that the star brewed her most amazing work, which we are seeing today. A fabulous children’s book ‘Shoma and the Stars’ was launched a year ago, backed up with more music from her. But more recently, the 31-year-old staged her inaugural kids concert, the ‘Shoma Fest’, launched her own hair range Sparkle Braids, rocked the Hey Neighbour stages, and has also released her latest single ‘I Can Be Me’ under her alias Shoma, which is inspired by the book.
A lot is going right for the star.
“I’ve had so many tough moments in the industry, and at various points I did want to give up on music. The last couple of years called for me to rethink whether I wanted to be in the spotlight again and, if so, in what way.
“I’ve come out of that realizing that I want to do it my own way,” she said.
This new space in which she finds herself has brought a lot of peace and reignited excitement for what the future has in store for her. It was almost like how it felt in the beginning. A rebirth with a lot of reflective moments.
“Right now, I am so inspired by listening to my own inner voice, trusting myself more, but also looking at what others are doing and learning from them. I feel stronger than I’ve ever been, and I feel more clear about what I want to achieve in this life. I had to take some time off to rethink what it is that I am here to do on this earth. I feel clearer than ever,” she shared.
Her pain has reignited her passion for children, which has manifested in telling stories and making music for the little ones.
“The last four years after my sister’s passing have been extremely difficult; I still cannot make sense of it at all. It was a really painful and shocking process. I am seeing these other things coming up, like my relationship with little girls who have, since then, become like my new little sisters. I lost my little sister, but I gained a nation of little sisters. I don’t know if my little sister is involved in that, but it feels like that a lot,” she said.
In this new chapter, she has found herself a force, aka a squad, in the little ones, and she believes they understand her better than any adult has ever.
“The reason I think they understand me better and the brand is because they can tell I am not pretending. What I love is what I love; I am genuinely excited by colorful and sparkly things, and so are they. Whereas I’ve been made to feel weird my whole life, but here I can be me,” she said.
It is among the kids that Sho Madjozi has newfound vigor and a more defined purpose. The dream hasn’t changed, though, with everything that she does feeding into one vision: a social impact.
“With all my heart, I want to have some sort of social impact. I’ve always wanted to contribute to making this country a more equal place to live. I know that sounds really far from what I do, but in reality, when I want young black girls to be empowered, when I want XiTsonga music to be given a spotlight, when I want black women’s hair to be respected, etc., it speaks to that deep desire of mine to improve the quality of life for black South Africans,” she said.
“I really hope that I show diversity. I think the saddest thing about role models as they are right now, especially for young girls, is that there isn’t a lot of diversity. For example, I think a lot of people find sexuality to be really liberating, etc., but the fact that there isn’t a variety for young girls to look up to and that every example there is, it’s all sexualized, is, to me, the biggest shame,” she said.
“And then you’ll hear some people say, ‘No, we are choosing to be this sexy’ but then if it’s a choice, how come it is everyone within the industry? It doesn’t matter what genre or area of the arts one finds themselves in; you still have to use your body if you are a woman. I’m just like, ‘Where are the options for girls to see other things? Surely there’s more that a woman can bring than to just be a sexual object’,” she states emphatically.
The star is promising new music in the form of an album.
“I want to release new music on my own terms, but I do have a lot of songs that I am quite happy about, and I might be ready to call it an album.
“Looking at me right now, I just want to hug myself. All that I have achieved, all that I have come out of—I sometimes can’t believe that I am really doing this thing.
“There’s this poem that has been coming up a lot for me lately by Lucille Clifton, dubbed Come Celebrate with Me, and there’s a part there that says, ‘Won’t you celebrate with me what I have shaped into? , and somewhere there she says something to this effect: ‘What did I see to be except myself? I had no model.’ And that is me. There was nobody doing what I was doing; nobody told me to take the path that I took; I did that. And honestly, I am super proud of it,” she said.
Sho Madjozi is certainly the difference needed in society to make a difference through the arts in our time. A star!
