Get to Know Rising Songstress ZhuriX on Her Ambition to Stabilise Afropop in South Africa
Burgeoning Afropop and Barcardi singer-songwriter ZhuriX may only be several years deep in the game since the release of her first official single, but she already has the way mapped out regarding her next move and where she plans to take Afropop.
Born into a musical family, the Soweto-bred songbird traced the origins of her penchant for music all the way back to her grandmother, who shared the stage with veteran songstress Mam’ Miriam Makeba as her backup singer. That was decades ago, and the global climate of music has since shifted to move at the speed of the digital age. However, the gift remained preserved in the vessel of the rising crooner, who faithfully carried the torch onward to light up the world of Afropop and Bacardi.
The 38 Talent representative released her debut EP titled Midnight Thoughts in late July. The six-song foray was heralded by a pair of singles: “Ariyeng” and “Fade Away”, which dropped in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Catering for hedonism, romance, and reveling in the amenities of life, the extended play was a co-mingle of the singer’s signature genres with subtle traces of electronic music and hip-hop.
“Midnight Thoughts, as a body of work, was actually inspired by what was going on in my thoughts. Basically, the kind of thoughts I have at midnight,” she said, outlining the inspiration behind the album name.
Midnight Thoughts EP Cover | SUPPLIED
With work done and dusted concerning her maiden EP, the Johannesburg musician revealed that she was not the one to rest on her laurels, divulging that her listeners would not have to wait long for her second opus which she planned to start creating this month.
“Right now, the plan is to get myself out there and start performing, but my followers should look forward to my second album. First, they should enjoy this EP, while I work on the second project, which I’ll begin working on in September. So, they should know that it’s on the way and they should look out for that,” she said.
Culling her influences from the likes of old school vets such as Brenda Fassie and Lebo Mathosa, ZhuriX shared her sentiments concerning the current state of Afropop. Feeling as though the sound has been neglected, the singer explained that her primary objective was to elevate the sound to cosmopolitan heights by stabilising it first locally.
“Honestly, I feel like I’m here to give life to Afropop because I feel like it’s an abandoned genre. So, my being her is to make it more stable in the industry. My presence is to make Afropop an international thing and a widely recognised genre,” she said.
With international echelons set in her sights, ZhuriX spoke about the importance of working together in the industry, particularly teaming up with newer acts in the game. At the heart of cultivating her art, Zhuri admitted that one of the things she planned on doing more in the future to stay on top of her game is collaborating more often.
“I would like to collaborate with a lot of artists in general – that’s one thing I look forward to doing more. I feel like that will help me grow as an individual and as an artist, and it’s also gonna help my craft in terms of versatility,” she said.
ZhuriX | SUPPLIED
Inspired by the Commander-In-Chief of the EFF Julius Malema and the noble cause of striking against the epidemic loadshedding in the country, “Revolution” was handpicked by Zhuri as the darling of her discography.
“The song I made which I love the most is “Revolution”. It actually came to mind after Julius Malema started the protest of striking for electricity. Even though he was leader of the EFF, everybody still agreed with what he was striking for. In my head, this gave me the notion that the true revolution will not be televised, hence the name of the song. I love all the songs from Midnight Thoughts but “Revolution” is the one for me,” she said.
With the horizon set to birth new music, ZhuriX tinkered with the idea of branching out to the techno world.
“I’d like to experiment on technopop one day. I find it to be very innovative,” she said.