Bongeziwe Mabandla - iimini
Artwork “iimini” showing the artist Bongeziwe Mabandla
“iimini” is one of a kind and a discovery which definitely has stood out among anything I have listened to for a while: iimini wants to tell us a story; a very personal and heartbreaking love-story lived through (and by) its singer, “Bongeziwe Mabandla”. Bongeziwe is from South Africa where he grew up in the rural town of Tsolo in the Eastern Cape, then moved to Johannesburg for his studies in Drama and has lived there ever since.
In this seminal piece Bongeziwe takes the listener through a journey of all the intensive feelings and memories, that come along with meeting a very special person, falling in love but then sadly having to cope with breaking up and accepting the loss of that love. A dramaturgical masterpiece, indicative of this is the the beginning mark of the story in the first track, through the sound of a door opening, in the last track a door closing, marking the end of the story. Some of the tracks are named according to dates put in brackets, referring to the time of the actual events having happened in Bongeziwe's life. Through this very personal approach he aims to share his experience as accurately as possible, like a musical autobiography showing through his own story the complexity of relationships.
It is astonishing to see how Bongeziwe succeeded to incorporate his own story into his music so clearly, to the effect that the listener comes to understand and feels what he sings about, even without having to understand a single word of the spoken language. He sings in his mother language Xhosa, which is a language spoken in the South-Africa, Bongeziwe self-reportedly said that singing in Xhosa is not only marking his Black-Consciousness but also Xhosa's intonation and accent sound smoother and powerful.
It is not only the language which makes this sounds as outstanding as it is: He combines his musical background of traditional African “Call&Response” singing, his remarkable head voice and gentle acoustic-guitar, with soft electronic beats and synthesiser melodies. With this combination he not only upends any prejudices, he proudly cultivates his tradition and culture but reflects South-African music's diversity and adaptability, by giving his music its soul and folk character.
Check out the following 2 tracks for Bongeziwe tradmark singing:
Overall Bongeziwe's unique and subtle head voice creates a powerful atmosphere letting us get close to his way of trying to cope with a big loss: looking back, capturing memories and reflecting.
Listen iimini on Spotify:
