Award-wining artist, writer and performer Sho Madjozi talks about the long history of discrimination against her culture, and expresses that much of the love she receives comes from the pride shared by many of her fans when seeing their culture celebrated at this level of stardom, both locally and globally. ‘After each of my shows, without fail, at least one person will come and tell me how they used to be ashamed of their culture but now they embrace it. It’s incredible being part of that.’ Sho Madjozi opened the 2020 Design Indaba conference with her infectious energy. Song, music, dance and an impromptu fashion show that had the crowd on their feet, and we learnt a lot about the history of xibelani, an integral part of Tsonga culture. Madjozi asserted that culture has to evolve and can’t be ‘museumfied’ – she proposed a xibelani carnival in Limpopo along the lines of the Rio Carnival, complete with extravagant innovation. She closed her presentation with her hit song John Cena and had everyone singing and dancing along.
She adds that, as a female artist, it was also important to her to prove that she can write and produce hits in male-dominated genres such as hip-hop, gqom and dance. This, too, is part of the identity Sho’s determined to express and she’d like it to be a clarion call to listeners to follow her lead. ‘I hope that when people listen to the album, they remember who they want to be – and go for it.’
Awards BET Awards - Winner - Best New International Artist 2019 South Africa Music Awards - Winner - Female Artist of the Year 2019 South Africa Music Awards - Winner - Newcomer of the Year 2019 Forbes - Winner - Entertainer Award 2019 African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) - Best Female for Southern Africa 2019 Glamour Magazine South Africa - Winner - Women of the Year (Music) 2019
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