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Catherine St Jude Pretorious aka Dope Saint Jude originates from Cape Town. After graduating in political sciences and founding South Africa\u2019s first drag-king group, this feminist activist studied sound production and eventually released her first solo project two years ago, Reimagine<\/em>. Because the word “resilient” means to be able to bounce back from a difficult situation; and I think that in my life I\u2019ve had some difficult situations but I always managed to see the positive in it and to fight through it. So I wanted to celebrate that.<\/p>\n Can you tell us more precisely what kind of difficult situations you bounced back from?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n My all life. I grew up in post-apartheid South Africa, I came from a poor background \u2013 a family which was struggling a lot. And besides that, in the last two years, as soon as I started making music, I lost my mother. I have four brothers so I was very close to my mother, she was like my rock in life and when I lost her it was very difficult but I got trough it. I even went on tour the same day as my mum\u2019s funeral. So I\u2019m just working really hard, trying to work on my career and not leaving the negative overtake my life. I think that the “Riot grrrl” movement was really wonderful. It resonated with me and made me feel strong. But at the same time I couldn\u2019t bring it into my life because they were young White women in [North] America. And even though I like the message and I think what they did was amazing, I wanted to bring it to an intersectional context of queer, Black and African people. With this track and video [“Grrrl Like”] I wanted to salute them but also make\u00a0them more modern.\u00a0 Can you tell us more about your squad? In the making-of of the video you say that these people are” improving your city, your country and the society”. How?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I worked with some of these people on my [fan]zine. They all do amazing things. A lot of them do cool art projects, some of them work in the community, some of them in collectives in order to change people’s minds in South Africa about trans and queer identity. So I just think these people are doing work to change the way people think, which is very necessary in the world, but also in South Africa. We need to talk about that because you know that Africa is very homophobic; it\u2019s not easy to be queer in Africa. So I think they are doing an amazing work and I want to put their work out on my platform even though I have a small audience.\u00a0 <\/b>
\nEarlier this month, the artist who defines herself as a poetess has released her second EP, Resilient<\/em>, ranging between pop and hip-hop. Recorded and produced in London by Pete “Boxta” Martin and Dantae Johnson, this record sees Dope Saint Jude tackle her favorite issues with a sharp flow: social, racial and sexual equality.
\nDon\u2019t trust the pictures in which she plays the bad boy. Dope Saint Jude may well be this committed and determined young woman, ready to relay the words of the voiceless communities, she also is this radiant person whose only smile could abolish all the divisions that are still spoiling South Africa. After having fired MaMA Festival\u2019s audience, she played at Africolor last weekend. Lively encounter.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/span>Why did you choose to call your project Resilient?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
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<\/b>“Grrrl Like” refers to “Riot grrrl”, a\u00a0feminist musical movement at the crossroads of punk rock and alternative rock, which\u00a0surfaced in the early 1990s in the United States. You were born in the same ’90s decade in South Africa. To what extent did this movement have an impact on you?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n
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