Originality and Owning Oneself: The Essence that Makes Up Songstress Makhanj
Blooming with songs and vocals from the soil of Mthatha is singer-songwriter Makhanj, harboring hopes of shaping the music landscape with her evocative artistry and high-energy – and somewhat quirky – personality. Having already appeared alongside the likes of Kelvin Momo, Black Coffee, and Major League DJz and powerhouses such as Babalwa M and Nia Pearl, the songstress has impressed her footprint on the lane she owns, and with a new single out with Stixx and Deeper Phil, it’s only the beginning.
Before she realised her dreams of becoming a musician, Makhanj looked back at her upbringing. Jokingly calling herself a resident of the entire country, the vocalist saw seeds of what would become of her life, particularly being a child who was a rolling stone, and shared how her past prepared her for the life she is living now.
“I’m from the Eastern Cape, Mthatha, and after living there for years, we moved to Queenstown, and then we moved to Port Elizabeth [now known as Gqeberha]. After another couple of years, we relocated to Pretoria. It wasn’t long before we moved again, this time to Durban. Then I was off to do my latter years of high school in Nelspruit before moving back to Pretoria, where I’ve been living ever since. We moved around a lot because mom was a hard worker and she was someone who was constantly getting promotions, and the constant moving around helped me a lot in the work that I do now, and the way that I go about my writing,” she said.
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Makhanj recently released “Kukuwe”, featuring amapiano sound-benders Stixx and Deeper Phil. She spoke about the track, how it came together, and her working relationships with the pair of producers.
“I always work with Stixx in studio, and you know how hard-working amapiano producers tend to be. I was already familiar with Phil before, as well, since we worked together in Kabza’s studio. When we made the song, it was initially through Stixx and Phil also just so happened to be there. We worked on about three songs or four. It’s not like I forgot about ‘Kukuwe’, but when I came back to record other stuff, I’d find them playing the song and singing along to it. Then came a time when Stixx asked me which one I wanted the most out of everything we made this year, and I was indecisive about it because all the songs were genuinely so good to me.
“I eventually gravitated towards ‘Kukuwe’ because it’s such a personal song and I love the production. Everything about it came together beautifully, and so I decided that I’d drop the song and seize the moment,” she said.
Check out “Kukuwe”:
She talked about her upcoming project and the guest list she curated for the album.
“There might be a project coming out. If it doesn’t – even if it’s part of it – by November, then it will probably be dropping next year in January because I’ve been working on it all year. But I will confirm that the project has Khalil Harrison, Nia Pearl, and Amukelani M. There’s quite a lot of people in it I haven’t worked with before because I tend to work with people I’ve done things with before. It’s a cute project I want to finish,” she said.
Inspired by the likes of Thandiswa Mazwai, Freshlyground, Zahara, Msaki, and Black Coffee among other juggernauts with an outstanding musical legacy, Makhanj isn’t simply in the game for the hell of it but to take herself and her craft seriously. To make an impact and leave a mark as deep as the artists who have been of appreciable influence to her.
“I don’t want to put myself in a box, you know? I want to go as far as I can go with my music and I want people to know that I take myself and my art seriously. It’s particularly the reason I’m drawn to the musicians that inspire me,” she said.
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An advocate of showing up for herself, Makhanj talked about killing the white noise of peer pressure and turning her face away from mimicking other artists because of their success and the reception they are getting for their music. Here’s what the champion of originality had to say:
“It’s easy to get lost in all the noise and to second-guess what you’re doing because of what other people are doing. It’s easy to imitate, and while imitation can get you into the room, it’s a question of how long it will keep you there. That’s something I always try to remember. You can try to be someone else but that’s not something you can do forever. So I always try to remember that, to remind myself that the best thing I can do is to show up as myself. No one can do me like me. Even when it gets to a point of trying out something new, try it out because you want to do it, not because you feel pressured to conform.”
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Rooted in faith and the enjoyment of life, she spoke about the things that have helped her improve her craft.
“For starters, I believe in Jesus Christ, and that is what works for me. I say that because I truly believe you have to believe in something. You have to believe in something because it’s easy to get distracted when good things come quickly or to feel defeated when things get hard along the way. There will be days where you don’t understand why you are doing all the things you are doing and why things are so difficult. But you also need that grounding so that if things go well you don’t get a big head about it.
“Another thing that helps me with my music is to experience life with my friends and to travel and do stuff. That in itself gives me more perspective and fresh angles to go about the songwriting, this in addition to reading a lot,” she said.
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Peculiar in her own words, Makhanj shared that she wanted listeners to extract one thing from her music: that it is of paramount importance to always be there and to show up for yourself as an act of love.
“I’ve always believed that my strongest attribute is my personality, and for the longest of times I tried to hide it because I was constantly told to focus on the singing. Everything is there for a reason and I want to be remembered as the woman who was herself in a room full of people unlike her. I’m a very strange person, but in a positive way. I like that I’m different. I like the way I sing, the way I write, and the way I am. And what I want people to get from me is that you have to be and show up as yourself. You need to understand yourself and appreciate yourself for who you are,” she said.