Mbulelo Qala just has the right song for everyone trying to lift their spirits because of not winning in the love game. ‘Lu Nqabile’ is Mbulelo’s latest single and it talks about an experience love being lost in a relationship that seemed to be going well. This is definitely a banger that will have you forget about your broken heart and embrace in the music instead.
Mbulelo Qala displays some smooth mellow tone harmonies laid on a semi-club, dance and Afro-pop influenced production. Having performed on big stages such as the Macufe festival hosted in Bloemfontein and the Joy of Jazz stages hosted in his home town Cosmo city singer and songwriter born 1991-06- 17 is fast making his moves in the entertainment industry.
‘Lu Nqabile’ follows the success of his previous single titled ‘Mbuzeni’.Though the journey hasn’t been a smooth sail, Mbulelo has had his fair share of drama, having signed a sour deal with 2 other guys forming a 3 man band called The Guage. A deal kept Mbulelo hostage preventing him from expressing himself as an Artist. As the days progressed the poorer and depressed Mbulelo got. ” I managed to finally get myself out that contract and was booked for my first show, my fan based started growing and the bookings kept trickling in.”
Listen to ‘Lu Nqabile’ below, we guarantee you’ll love it!
We as Kas’lam Magazine had a brief chat with Mbulelo to find out more about him and the is what went down
THE INTERVIEW / CHAT
Firstly, since this is Kas’lam Mag. Briefly tell about about your hood and how it was coming up in your hood?
I come from a kasi called khutsong location Carletonville and I must say the support system has been amazing and they’ve been supporting my work. It was cool growing up in such a location like that, it’s not everywhere where people are willing to support your dreams. One thing I love about my kasi is that whenever there is live sessions or musical show we go and support which ever artist who is doing their thing
When did you first realise your dream as a musician?
I realized it back in 2009 when I saw this dudes rock and rolling in our local car wash emaxhoseni in khutsong, then I was like I gotta do this and I started taking this music life serious.
You’ve recently dropped a fire titled ‘Lu Nqabule’, what was the inspiration behind the making of the song?
The inspiration behind the song is my general view of what’s happening in life. It’s inspired by people’s real life experiences and the love stories I’ve witnessed. I saw what people close to me were going through and I wrote about that. The general message is for people to love and appreciate their partners or lovers and Care for them also protect them
Do you write / make music based on your own experiences or do you just come up with a concept and then lay it down?
I make music based on my personal experiences and also stories told by individuals who have sharing theirs with me.
The industry is always full of controversial stories regarding artists who are not happy with their label(s) / contract(s). You also have a similar experience, tell us more about that.
Oh boy trust me I too have been in a bad situation which didn’t serve me well at all but I manage to get myself out. What I have learned from the past experiences is that there are people who are waiting to exploit young talent without even caring if they will survive the exploitation at the end. I’m happy where I am now, my label is so transparent, I feel loved and at home. My team knows how to make me feel calm at all times when I feel like I’m messing up.
How would you advice an up-coming Artist to avoid finding themselves in a similar situation?
Artists need to read contracts, get people to help you with paperwork, seek advisers and concentrate on their work. The glitz and glamour will come at the end but at first build yourself a strong foundation.
You’ve already dropped 2 singles that are doing well, are you leading to a full album drop any time soon?
We are currently in the studio working on a full body of work but we don’t have a release date as yet, but it will most probably be in the 1st quarter next year.
How are you spending your time during this lockdown and how has the Lockdown affected your plans for the year?
As a musician spending time indoors has really crippled me financially. When you are a performing musician you rely on being booked for events to generate an income. Since we are under lockdown I can forget about being booked anywhere. Secondly since we are locked in, it is so difficult to do radio tours and properly promote my music. We as artists are blessed to have organisations like this which still put us on when major publications shut doors in our face because spaces are reserved for the covid-19 update.
Any last words?
Stay blessed and stay safe, wear your masks and sanitize your space. We are living in weird times and we need to normalise it. Don’t forget to keep the light burning, you too will make it one day.
