Get to Know Lusanda the Rising Songstress Born from TikTok Covers
A familiar face on TikTok with a one-of-a-kind talent for covering classics while making them her own, rising singer-songwriter and dancer Lusanda is a shooting star gradually taking her place among others without dimming her shine. With the release of her second single, “Progress”, a follow-up to her 2024 song “When You’re Around”, the emerging songstress’s growth curve not only promises the fulfilment of the becoming that was once a premonition but also the redefinition of the next generation of urban music in Mzansi as we’ve come to know it.
“I was born in KwaMashu and I spent my early childhood with my mom, dad, granny, and my aunt. Then we moved to Jo’burg after some time. I love Jozi, and it remained home even when I had to go back to KZN to go to school in Pietermaritzburg. Now I’m in Cape Town to finish my Honours in BA in Theatre and Performance, though I specialise in Choreography,” she said, speaking of her upbringing.
Lusanda | SUPPLIED
From generational phenoms such as Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley to modern greats such as Chris Brown, the connection between being able to braid music and rhythmic body movement seamlessly, turning it into a dance, is a rare feat. And yet, the artforms are bedfellows that don’t only complement each other, they feel natural next to one another as modes of expression.
With Lusanda being very much in her element on the dance floor, the warbler spoke about this relationship between music and dancing, employing her own schooling to expand her understanding of this mutualistic relationship of these art styles.
“I feel like making music and dancing are so similar. Actually, that’s what my thesis is on—the collaboration of dance and music, that is. Having a background in dancing has given me discipline and this unspoken language of communication. It’s like I just know how to speak about certain things because I know the art of dancing. You know, like rhythm and cadance,” she said.
Lusanda on Stage | SUPPLIED
Sultry, sassy, and seething with sauce, Lusanda’s latest single “Progess” saw her explore another side of her. She spoke about the creative direction she took for the song, and why she went that way.
“With ‘Progress’, I wanted kick for it. My voice is normally airy, soft, and a lot of the comments I’ve gotten about my voice talk about how at peace people feel when they listen to me. You know? Those vibes of chilling and feeling like you’re flying. And that’s something I like keeping in my music and I do it by using strings. With this song, though, I wanted it to have a punch. That kick to it,” she said.
Check out “Progress”:
With an enviable following on TikTok that caught fire thanks to her videos of her doing covers, she talked about the serendipitous and surprising find of success on the platform.
“I didn’t expect it at all. I thought I would be a dancer and a choreographer, wake up in the morning and hit the studio. In dance, when we had productions, they would always force me to sing at the end of the show. So music was a thing that was always there, and I knew something would happen eventually. But I didn’t expect it to happen the way it did. It took me by surprise,” she said.
Lusanda | SUPPLIED
The singer revealed some of her future prospects, though sparingly.
“For visuals of the song, I really want a good team I can trust. But what I can say is that I do have enough songs, like I’ve been making a lot of songs. There’s a whole lot. It’s just a matter of creating a story behind the EP or the album to base it on, what it would look like. It will come, in time,” she said.
Inspired by the likes of giants who influenced their respective fields such as Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey, Lusanda opined on the current state of R&B in the country, noting that the genre has been bubbling under with new talent but without enough connection to shake the industry and to inspire a takeover on the scale of amapiano and 3Step.
“There’s this disconnect at the moment between R&B singers and the audience. Like, R&B in the country is sizzling and there’s a lot of artists doing it, and yet even with the volume of music being made, it’s failing to connect with the South African market. It’s good, but it could be way better. And I hope I can do that with my music and that people will recognise the quality of what I put out, and get to a point where they want to hear my music on big stages,” she said.
Lusanda | SUPPLIED
She shared some of the genres she wished to dabble in as the years pass.
“I’ve got a lot of sounds I want to try out. One of them is house. There’s different subgenres in it I’d like to do something about like Ralf Gum’s type of sound. I’ve tried 3Step, Gqom-yano. Anything house-related really. I also would love to tap into rock. That’s pretty much it. Keeping my R&B and soul in there as well,” she said.
Though she found fame from the comfort of her bedroom, Lusanda talked about the joys and what it meant to her to touch grass.
“When I’m not doing music, you’re probably going to find me going to events and being within the people and enjoying real life. I went to Rocking the Daisies recently and it was such a wonderful experience. Seeing different people and experiencing the world. Simply being outside and doing normal things like other people,” she said.