{"id":77588,"date":"2021-04-12T10:56:07","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T09:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/kamo-mphela-est-la-nouvelle-reine-du-bal\/"},"modified":"2021-04-12T11:40:37","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T10:40:37","slug":"kamo-mphelas-time-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/kamo-mphelas-time-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Kamo Mphela\u2019s time in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kamo Mphela\u2019s 4-track debut project, Twentee<\/em>, was released just one year ago, yet, the young artist is already a true celebrity. Driven by an extraordinary energy and an ambition not limited to music, she has been signing her country\u2019s latest and biggest hits, from the now classic \u201cAmanikiniki\u201d to the hugely successful \u201cSBWL\u201d. She has shined brightly on features, but now it\u2019s time for her to develop her own craft. In comes the Nkulunkulu <\/em>EP, and Kamo is more focused than ever. \u201cNkulunkulu is basically a prayer to God<\/em>\u201d, she tells PAM while preparing herself for an event, and a flight to Lagos. \u201cThat\u2019s the reason why it\u2019s so different from all my featured songs. I just got into the studio and started saying what I would want from God. I\u2019m asking him for money, I\u2019m asking him for success, I\u2019m asking him to protect me from the devil. It\u2019s not necessarily the hardcore Kamo Mphela that people know because I\u2019m trying to introduce my own brand.<\/em>\u201d. Nonetheless, the hardcore fans will also find something to love on the new project. What about the other 3 songs? \u201cThe other songs are just vibes! Vibes for people of the streets, for girls who just want to dance\u2026 and not pray<\/em>\u201d, she smiles maliciously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a9 Yoann Champalain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Vibes, energy, dance, are all central components to Kamo\u2019s music aka amapiano, the latest avatar of the hyper creative South African house scene. The genre has been sending artists to perform everywhere on the continent, but that is not enough for the singer, who doesn\u2019t take the \u201cAmapiano Queen\u201d title as a compliment. \u201cWhen they say amapiano queen, they are putting me in one box<\/em>\u201d, she explains. \u201cBut I like dance music and that\u2019s my whole thing, so I want to be able to do afrobeats, to do any dance music that anybody resonates. Even in South Africa: Kwaito, Gqom\u2026 I can do anything<\/em>\u201d. Beware, music is not the only thing Kamo wants to take over. \u201cI think I\u2019m an entertainer. I don\u2019t want to use a lot of tags defining who I am. I just want to do everything that\u2019s around me, my career, my brand<\/em>\u201d, she tells us. This includes music, but also acting (she was featured in the Netflix series How to Ruin Christmas: The Wedding), social media (she recently hit 1 million followers) and obviously dance, the first domain that truly revealed her to her nation via viral street videos. In a country known worldwide for its incredibly rich dances, asits music, the young artist managed to differentiate herself. \u201cI don\u2019t know how man\u2026 I just think it was my time<\/em>!\u201d, she laughs. \u201cThere are really dope dancers here, but I think the choices that I made helped me blow up, like pushing everything on my end with the viral videos for example. And then, I just decided I could dance to my own music<\/em>!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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