{"id":106956,"date":"2022-05-18T12:22:50","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T10:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=106956"},"modified":"2022-05-18T12:26:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T10:26:44","slug":"moonga-k-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/moonga-k-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Moonga K. makes his return high on up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Zambian-born, Botswana-raised and South African-based singer takes us through his new song \u201cup\u201d, and reflects on his achievements so far.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A few months ago, after his performance at Bassline Fest<\/a> in Johannesburg, Moonga K. had sat down with us for a short interview and had told us something quite surprising: \u201cI was such a shy kid! I would close my eyes and be scared about the audience. I would literally hide from them\u201d<\/em>. This was hard to believe: his show was undoubtedly one of the highlights from the night, filled with dancing, plot-twist change of clothes and brazen attitude. We learned a few minutes later that being able to perform so boldly to the Johannesburg audience actually took a few training years in Botswana. \u201cI grew up in Gaborone, which is a very small town with a few people controlling a lot of things<\/em>\u201d, he had said. \u201cFrom very young I had access to theatres and every three months I would curate my own shows with my friends! We had that whole stage, and we thought we were the Beyonces of our cities. That helped me roll with it\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Moonga\u2019s show at the Bassline came after three remarked projects released in 2018, 2020 and 2021 : Wild Solace<\/em>, an ode to growth pt. 1 <\/em>and CANDID<\/em>. The two latter, which saw him open up about \u201cpersonal stuff<\/em>\u201d, \u201cunrequited love<\/em>\u201d and his \u201cown social justice<\/em>\u201d, cemented his spot as a promising alternative African artist, gifted with the capacity to produce ultra-catchy, funky, soul and R&B inspired songs, and to infuse them with intimate and reflective stories and statements. \u201cI\u2019ve never been afraid to speak about serious stuff<\/em>\u201d, he says. \u201cI\u2019m just a very vocal and opinionated person and it makes sense to put it in my music, because silence and internalizing has never done anything good for me<\/em>\u201d. The \u201cserious stuff<\/em>\u201d above mentioned includes singing about \u201cBlack folks, marginalized folks, or anyone who feels like they don\u2019t have a voice anymore<\/em>\u201d. \u201cI\u2019ve decided that I\u2019m just a misfit and a rebel, and I go against the status quo whatever I do<\/em>\u201d, he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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