Brits thrilled by Toya Delazy’s Zulu rave

Brits thrilled by Toya

London based South African artist and dancer Toya Delazy is taking British audiences by storm with her 100% Zulu album Afrorave Vol 1.

The album hit the digital streets worldwide on Friday and received airplay on BBC radio. Her single Resurrection was played in the slot titled “BBC Introducing Dance”, hosted by Jaguar Bingham. The radio presenter said: “My face was pure joy when this came through on the upload and I knew that it deserve to be a featured in the Dance Floor Moment. I am a big fan of Toya’s unapologetic genre crossing sound and her energy is infectious. You can hear drum, techno and rave.”

After six years living in London Toya Delazy, who was born Nontokozo Buthelezi, is excited to finally break into the British music scene.   Though they still regard her as an emerging musician, Toya Delazy is just happy that her journey to global stardom has officially begun. Speaking to Sowetan, the granddaughter of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said she realised that singing in English was not helping her, which is why she went back to her roots. “They call me an emerging artist because I am bubbly under and they are excited by my music. They started to play it on radio. It is so surreal it makes me happy. It sounds like a win for me and the whole SA,” she said.

Brits thrilled by Toya

Toya Delazy explained that Resurrection is about how bodies of black women were supervised. In the song she takes music lovers back to her time in high school in KwaZulu-Natal. Her other single Qhawe, which comes from the same album, has been nominated for Best Produced Music Video in this year’s Annual South African Music Awards (SAMA27).

“I went to mission school where they used to shave our heads and  test our virginity. When you look at it now you realise that our skin was always a problem. Some of my friends are still broken, even today. Resurrection is about restricting our spirit,” she explained.

Her album celebrates her culture and heritage. Toya Delazy said it includes innovative and impactful techno, bass lines and African percussion bedded under her trademark Zulu raps.

“This sound reminds me of indlamu. The album is for alternative Africans who live in the global world. It encourages people to be proud of their indigenous languages and culture.  Indigenous languages are disappearing because once people get educated they are ashamed to speak their own languages.  It’s English all the way,” she said.

“Through the album I’m connecting to a lot of black people here because they don’t know their history.  What they know is that they came to London as slaves. Thina, we know that the British were defeated in the Battle of Isandlwana. Those who cannot understand isiZulu can add subtitles when listening to music so that they see that we are not insulting them.

“I have a feeling a lot of culture is lost due to colonisation and apartheid and it left a disconnected spiritually for us as Africans. The album talks about mental health in the black community. We can’t pretend that everything is normal when we were victimised. We need spirituality, and psychiatric help.”

Brits thrilled by Toya Delazy’s Zulu rave

After leaving Sony Music she released her first album Uncommodified as an independent artist, which did not do well. In her latest album Afrorave Vol 1 she has partnered with Sony Music as a distributor and other stakeholders to take her brand to another level.

She said she continued to draw  inspiration from her grandfather and also from her great grandmother Princess Magogo’s wisdom. Her album was recorded both in South African and London studios and was produced by Mxshi Mo. 

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