Get to Know Xowié, the Songbird Long Overdue for Flight
From the being the lead singer of the choir during her primary school days to the eventual release of her debut EP, ALLO, the feathers on the back of South African songbird Xowié have grown stronger and stronger with each passing year of practice, performance and persistence, with her musical wings now mature enough to sustain her flight and life beyond the nest. The Benoni-born R&B and soul crooner’s maiden project, accompanied by the drop of “Nobody’s Fool” and its visualiser, mark only the beginning of the promising talent which once walked away from the Idols SA audition stage with a golden ticket stamped with four straight yeses.
Xowié spoke about her upbringing rooted in the Northen parts of KwaZulu-Natal, where she lived with her grandmother emakhaya while also dividing herself between where she was stationed as a child and the Free State. She hearkened back to the days of doing renditions of Mariah Carey and Beyonce, which comforted her in the confronted knowledge of being different, and the times when her talent was still a budding flower watered and sunned by her teachers.
Xowié | SUPPLIED
“My entire childhood, I could say, was established emakhaya, particularly Northern KZN, and I also spent some time at QwaQwa. I was exposed to an environment that was modernised and influenced by Western culture, and since I grew up in a musical family, I found myself listening to Beyonce and Mariah Carey because of my mother and my sisters. The more that I grew up, the more I recognised that I’m different from my peers, especially when I was emakhaya. Nevertheless, I started to embrace that part of me when I was at the Free State and I sang Beyonce and Mariah Carey songs all the time because they were tokens of nostalgia and they reminded me of the small memories I had from living with my mom and my sisters.
“In primary, my teachers took notice of my singing talent and asked me to join the school choir. I eventually became the lead singer and I would go to these big competitions and be involved in entertainment activities in primary. That pushed me to owning my talent and telling myself that this was my thing and that I loved it. Then, when I was 14, I moved back to the Free State to be with my mother. As much as that place instigated me going deeper into the arts, the school I went to there didn’t really support entertainment or anything like that, but I still found a way to showcase my talent. Then after varsity, I told myself that I’d follow my dreams, a decision my family supported. They even suggested I go to Idols, where I even got four yeses- even from Randall!” she said.
Although the songstress didn’t make it past the notorious Theatre Week of the now-defunct show, she admitted that the experience was an invaluable learning curve in her lifelong journey with music. Citing the importance of being surrounded by people who could sing and also write their own music, the singer conceded that she was inspired by the happenings of the season, which pushed her to grow. And not long after, instead of moping after being axed, she bought herself a guitar and started down the road of self-teaching how to compose and strengthening her writing abilities.
Xowié | SUPPLIED
As time went, Xowié started putting herself on the map through TikToks and by building her following on Instagram, cementing her presence and her establishing visibility. With the gradual buildup came ALLO, her first official offering, a body of work featuring music she made as long as four years ago.
“As I already said, I started writing songs immediately after my experience on Idols. And some of the songs on the EP were actually made around 2021, which is the same time period when I started promising people that I would be putting out an EP. And because of the delays, people have been on my case about it, and that’s why it’s titled A Little Long Overdue. And because of my evolution throughout the years, the EP has a lot of different sounds, and the project also represents different versions of myself.
“When it came to handpicking which songs would go into the EP, there was a wide pool to choose from. But, ultimately, I leaned towards songs I felt people would relate to, songs like “Home”,” she said.
With a visualiser for “Nobody’s Fool” already out on YouTube, Xowié spoke about the kind of image she intended on projecting as an artist.
“I think more than anything, I want people to relate to me and to find pieces of themselves within the music and the visuals I share with them. That’s the one thing I hope to achieve with my music and the brand I’m building. To make people feel seen and motivated. ” she said.
Watch “Nobody’s Fool”:
Xowié shared her feelings on the state of R&B and soul music in the country, feeling that there wasn’t a balance between the plethora of talent within the space and the public recognition received for the work being put out.
“I feel like in South Africa the R&B and soul space hasn’t really been paid that much attention, and I feel like there are a lot of us upcoming artists from the sector doing amazing work. And with that, we do it with the hopes of solidifying ourselves in the industry, because we have the same kind of talent that they have in the United States and Europe,” she said.
With dreams of delving into something she called R&Bhinca as a passion of exploration, the warbler spoke about the importance of staying original with her artistry and always following the guidance of the tiny voice inside of her rather than having her wings swayed by the winds of conventions and external influences.
“Music is something you can’t force. It’s not something where you tell yourself you will listen to a certain artist for you to get inspired to make music. It has to be something that comes from within, and that’s what the voice inside of me says, and I aim to continue listening to it instead of other people,” she said.