Pic: Alon Skuy
The World Cup has helped bring people together to form one nation and our visitors will definitely be able to see this togetherness, along with the happiness and kindness we South Africans have to offer, while they are here for the competition. We are for sure now living Africanism!
Music is My Life is my latest album. I have been in the industry for so many years and for me to come back with a new album, I needed to show my fans that Thembi is back in a big way and I wanted the world to see that I am even more serious about my music. I have developed not only as a person but also as a songstress and performer. Therefore, for this album to be as successful as it has become, I had to have the best producers in place and a top team to make it work.
Making it what it is took a lot of saving up and a great deal of patience, followed by loads of hard work and dedication. This all takes time.
The production process was a lot of fun – from writing all the songs and lyrics to going for voice training and putting the right team in place to make it all work. It’s something I will never forget. To sum up this album, it is essentially everything I have learnt in my music career.
My six weeks of the World Cup celebrations are rather busy. I will be performing at most of the Fifa fan-parks in the Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Rustenburg areas.
I miss my days with Boomshaka, especially Lebo Mathosa. She played a huge role in my life and taught me a lot about myself. There was definitely a reason behind our meeting and working together. I miss all the craziness, but I learnt a lot over those years. Ten years on, I am making every effort to relive all the stuff we did, but on a more serious and respectful level.
In 1994, on the day Nelson Mandela was inaugurated, we were asked to perform at five different shows – all on that one day. We were flying from one city to the next (Joburg to Port Elizabeth to Cape Town to Durban to East London). It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget.
There were also some days when the girls and I would decide to do things spontaneously – like fly to London and go shopping on Oxford Street. We would just take risks and stand out from the crowd. Oh, how I miss those days.
The four things I would pack into my bag for a winter getaway include my sneakers – if we are going to be hiking, a girl definitely needs her sneakers. My warm tracksuit and socks – I get cold quite easily, so I definitely need my comfortable and warm tracksuit and socks to go with me. My toiletries – I am a toiletries addict, I buy toiletries even when I don’t need to. A few essential things I can’t live without are my face wash, toothbrush and toothpaste. And then my snacks and food – I love food and I’m certainly not one of those women who shies away from it. Lots of water, dried fruit and healthy snacks throughout the day keep me going. I think I must eat about six times a day, if not more. Luckily for me, I live a very active lifestyle.
One thing a few people won’t know about me is that I used to have one of the biggest and longest crushes on an ex-boss of mine – sorry, I just can’t share his name with you.
Young Jeezy also features in this song and this is of course taken off her new album “Rated R”. Anyone got it? What’s it like?
