5 minutes with Afro-jazz artist Zethembiso ‘Zethe' Zimela
Her music is rooted in advocating for mental health and social justice, using her voice to inspire change and unity through art.
We get to know more about the singer.
What's the story behind your latest album, Breathe?
Breathe is more than just an album; it is a personal journey of healing and reflection. The music is composed to serve as a form of medicine, ikhambi, which provides solutions to the myriads of issues we face in our daily lives – breathing amid the chaos, reclaiming our humanity, summoning courage, nurturing hope, and finding solace in love and prayer. Ultimately, the music in this album carries therapeutic musical strategies on mental health, serving as both a mirror and a remedy for the soul. Therefore, I invite listeners to breathe as they go through personal life journeys and take their healing (ikhambi) in this album, as each track offers a dose of insight, comfort, hope, and strength.
What message do you hope listeners get from it?
It's music that speaks to the soul, encouraging listeners to pause, exhale and embrace their healing journey. I hope listeners can apply the message to their everyday lives and connect with it. The album explores themes of mental health, healing, and human connection. Tracks like Ukukhanya (there's light), Uthando (a love letter) and the titular Breathe showcase Zethe channelling her journey of healing into music that mirrors the struggles and triumphs of the human spirit.
What was the creative process for this album?
It's been a three-year journey. I write thoughts and feelings, come up with melodies separately from them, and put the writings to the melody. The lyrics are mostly from my journal, true, vulnerable and honest moments.
Did you face any challenges while making it?
I'm a perfectionist and that played a big role in why this album took longer to complete. I had a clear vision of how I wanted every detail – each note, lyric, and emotion – to come together. It wasn't just about finishing a project; it was about ensuring that the music fully reflected my artistic expression and the message I wanted to share. Taking my time allowed me to refine every element, making sure it felt authentic, meaningful and true to my journey.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Zethe Zimela (@zethe_z)
Did you collaborate with any other artists or producers?
I worked with a great South African pianist Sibusiso Mash Mashiloane who took his time when he was helping me produce this album. The album consists of 12 musical contributors (instrumentalists and vocalists). Right now, I'm fascinated by the power of sound and how it connects with emotions and healing. This deeply influences my work, as I want my music to be more than just songs – it should be an experience that speaks to the soul, offering comfort, motivation, and a space for personal introspection.
Do any of the songs hold a special personal meaning for you?
The first song in the album is titled Ukukhanya. It is an appeal for a breakthrough, a request for light to shine in our lives so we can see clearly, whether it's to see ourselves, others or the path ahead. Sometimes, we are the ones dimming our light through self-sabotage. This is a prayer, asking for the light to shine so we can truly live. It is also a promise that better days will come.
Liberating, beautiful and entertaining.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
5 hours ago
- Gizmodo
How to Watch NBC Outside the US: Quick Guide
Whether you're in Australia, South Africa, or Sweden, The Voice, Chicago P.D., and NBC's Olympic coverage still top global watchlists. But the problem is, NBC's streams won't load unless your device appears to be in the U.S. That's due to geo-restrictions that block access to Peacock and for international viewers. Even though NBC's content travels far, its streaming gates don't. But with the right VPN and setup, you can trick the system, stream NBC live, and watch your favorite shows from anywhere, just like you're back in New York or L.A. We'll show you exactly how to get your U.S. entertainment going, even when you're abroad. Table of Contents You're not imagining it. Watching NBC from outside the US is trickier than it should be. That's because NBC doesn't rely on just one method to block international viewers. It layers multiple types of geo-restrictions, making access nearly impossible unless you're using the right workaround. This is the first and most obvious hurdle. NBC checks your IP address to determine your location, and if it doesn't fall within US borders, the site or app either refuses to load or gives you a blunt 'Not available in your region' message. No US IP, no entry — that's the rule. Even if you get past the IP wall, NBC locks a lot of content behind a cable provider login. To stream full episodes or live events, you'll need credentials from a US-based service like Xfinity, Spectrum, or DirecTV Stream. And these logins are geo-sensitive too — use them from the UK, and they'll likely fail unless your VPN setup is airtight. NBC actively blocks VPNs it detects, especially free or overused services. If your VPN's IP address appears on a known proxy or VPN list, NBC simply won't let the stream through. This is why 'just any VPN' won't cut it. On NBC's mobile apps, especially NBC Sports and affiliate-specific versions, your device's GPS can betray your true location. Even with a VPN active, if your phone shows you're in the UK, the app can refuse access or load limited content. It's a frustrating but increasingly common tactic. Most VPNs trip up on one or more of the blocks above. But NordVPN stands out for its large fleet of US servers (over 1,970 at last count), which are regularly refreshed to stay off blacklists. It also has obfuscated servers to help bypass aggressive VPN detection and SmartDNS support for streaming on devices that don't support native VPN apps. Whether you're living abroad or just traveling, watching NBC doesn't have to mean missing out on The Voice, Sunday Night Football, or breaking news. With a reliable VPN and a few quick steps, you're good to go. Watch NBC from anywhere with NordVPN Tip: For smart TVs or devices that don't support VPN apps, use NordVPN's SmartDNS feature or set it up on your router. NordVPN offers the best router-compatible VPN we've tested to date. If you're outside the US and still want your fill of SNL, Chicago P.D., or Sunday Night Football, you'll need more than just Wi-Fi and wishful thinking. We tested over a dozen VPNs across multiple continents, networks, and devices. When streaming NBC live outside the US, NordVPN consistently delivers the best mix of speed, access, and usability. With a massive network of 7,800+ servers in 118 countries, including 1,970+ in the US, it's our top pick for uninterrupted access to The Tonight Show, SNF, Law & Order, and more. Powered by NordLynx, a protocol built on WireGuard tech, NordVPN gave us buttery-smooth performance during HD and 4K streams on the NBC app, and Peacock. Even when connected from Europe and Asia, we could stream live NBC news without lag, essential for sports or late-night shows. NordVPN's US servers are optimized for security and dedicated streaming. During testing, we had zero proxy errors when signing into NBC from abroad. Its SmartPlay feature automatically routes you through the best connection path for streaming, so you don't have to fiddle with server selection manually. Buy at NordVPN Whether you're on iOS, Android, Fire Stick, Apple TV, or Smart TVs, NordVPN's apps are clean and consistent. We especially liked the Quick Connect feature that picked the best-performing US server for us every time. You can even install it on routers to cover devices that don't support VPN apps natively. At just around $3/month for long-term plans, NordVPN gives you premium access at a bargain. It also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all platforms, and a 7-day free trial on Android, so you can stream NBC without spending anything upfront. Support is available 24/7 via live chat, which comes in handy if you hit a snag. Pros Cons If you're trying to stream NBC from abroad without any buffering, slowdowns, or geo-error headaches, ExpressVPN is one of the most reliable options. With 3,000+ high-speed servers in 105+ countries, including dozens of optimized locations across the US, it's a breeze to unlock and the NBC app. You can also count on ExpressVPN to access Peacock content while outside the United States. ExpressVPN's Lightway Turbo protocol is a game-changer for real-time streaming. When we tested it from the UK and Germany, NBC loaded instantly and played in full HD without stuttering, even during Sunday Night Football and SNL. Its 10 Gbps server upgrades ensure stable, high-speed performance across the board. One standout feature is MediaStreamer, ExpressVPN's Smart DNS tool. It lets you stream NBC on devices that don't support VPN apps, like smart TVs, Apple TV, and consoles, without complex configurations. It's not as secure as a full VPN tunnel, but it works flawlessly for US content. Buy at ExpressVPN ExpressVPN has intuitive apps for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Fire Stick, and routers, and all of them work with NBC. Setup takes just a minute or two, and their 24/7 live chat is always ready to help if a server gets blocked (which happens rarely but is easy to fix). ExpressVPN is priced slightly higher than others (around $5/month with a long-term plan), but you're paying for reliability, top-tier support, and elite unblocking performance. It's backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test it with NBC worry-free. Pros Cons Private Internet Access VPN is a surprisingly powerful option for streaming NBC abroad, especially if you're looking for wide US coverage on a budget. With servers in all 50 US states (it's one of the best VPNs for California, for example), it's your best bet if you want to watch regional NBC affiliates (think local news, NFL games, or weather updates from your hometown). What makes Private Internet Access a winner is its state-by-state server access. While most VPNs just give you generic 'US' servers, PIA lets you pick from specific states, which is ideal for bypassing location-specific blackouts or affiliate restrictions on NBC content. In our hands-on tests, PIA worked with the NBC app, and Peacock without tripping any proxy errors. Speeds were more than fast enough for HD streaming using its WireGuard protocol, although they're not quite as consistent as NordVPN or ExpressVPN. Buy at Private Internet Access Private Internet Access comes with a highly customizable interface, but you don't have to tweak anything to get NBC working. Install the app, connect to a US state server (we recommend New York or Illinois for NBC), and you're good to go. You also get a native app for Fire TV, which makes streaming NBC shows even easier on your TV. At just about $2 per month with a long-term plan, PIA is one of the cheapest ways to stream NBC abroad. It also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can binge The Tonight Show or Dateline NBC risk-free before committing. Pros Cons Accessing NBC from outside the US doesn't have to be a hassle, but not when you've got the right VPN in your corner. Whether you're trying to stream The Voice, Law & Order, or catch up on Sunday Night Football, using a reliable VPN unlocks NBC's full catalog and lets you stream from anywhere in the world. So if NBC's geo-blocks have been standing between you and your favorite shows, NordVPN is the fix. It's fast, consistent, and hands-down the easiest way to bring American TV wherever you are. Geo-blocks might be frustrating, but the workarounds are easier than you think. Here are some lesser-known questions answered to help you stream NBC smarter, not harder. Yes, but it depends on your VPN provider. Some smart TVs support VPN apps directly (like Android TV), but others don't. With a provider like NordVPN, you can either use SmartDNS or set up the VPN on your router to protect your entire home network, including your TV. Not always. Some NBC content is free to watch via the NBC website or app, so you only need a US IP address. But for full access, like live broadcasts or premium content, you'll need login credentials from a US cable provider or use an alternative like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV (which also require a US payment method). Technically, you might get lucky, but it's not reliable. Free VPNs often lack US servers optimized for streaming and get blocked by NBC's anti-VPN systems. More importantly, they often come with data caps, slow speeds, and even privacy risks. That's why we recommend services like NordVPN, which offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, letting you try it risk-free.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Music Icon, 80, Reveals the Woman Who Healed Him After Heartbreaking Splits
Music Icon, 80, Reveals the Woman Who Healed Him After Heartbreaking Splits originally appeared on Parade. Rod Stewart opened up about his past marriages and how his current relationship has brought him a sense of healing and completeness he never thought he would find again. The music icon has been married to English model Penny Lancaster for 18 years and their romance is still going strong. In an interview with The Times, he talked about his two failed marriages and how they led him to meet the love of his life. The singer-songwriter's first wife was former model and actress Alana Hamilton, whom he married in 1979. The couple, who had a daughter, Kimberly and a son, Sean, separated in 1984. Six years later, the 'Sailing' hitmaker married Rachel Hunter, with whom he had two children: daughter Renée and son Liam. Despite a 24-year age gap, their marriage lasted nine years before they filed for divorce in 1999. According to Stewart, the age difference was a factor in the breakdown of their relationship. He also revealed that the divorce was a painful chapter in his life. "Rachel left me because she was too young — my sister said I should never have married her in the first place — but it tore me to shreds," he revealed. However, the heartbreaking moment ultimately guided him toward his future wife, whom he met six months after his relationship with Hunter ended. "There were six months between Rachel and Penny because my bass player, who had Penny's number, wouldn't give it to me,' the legendary singer recalled. 'He said, 'All you're going to do now is shag around.' And he was right: I had a splendid time in those six months." With the rock star being with the 54-year-old TV personality for almost two decades now, he considers it a turning point in his life. "Now I'm with Penny and she's got everything I could possibly want," the 80-year-old singer said, adding, "She's mended my heart in more ways than one." The couple was blessed with two sons named Alastair Wallace Stewart and Aiden Patrick Stewart. Besides his children with his former wives and Penny Lancaster, Rod Stewart has a daughter named Ruby with ex-girlfriend Kelly Emberg and his eldest daughter, Sarah Streeter, who was placed up for Icon, 80, Reveals the Woman Who Healed Him After Heartbreaking Splits first appeared on Parade on Jul 4, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Gen Z'ers Are Sharing Their Thoughts On Millennials, And They're Surprisingly Wholesome
Generational drama is basically a full-time job on the internet, but every now and then, someone actually cuts through the noise with something real. Case in point, u/ree2bMe2122, a millennial, sparked a surprising and honest conversation when they asked Gen Z, "What are your thoughts on millennials?" So, here's what Gen Z had to say about their slightly older internet siblings: 1."As a Gen Z'er, I feel a pretty strong sense of camaraderie with millennials. We have an understanding, you know? Similar environment and struggles, all of us victims of a damaged system, struggling in solidarity, etc." —u/ARClegend_18 2."We share a lot of trauma..." —u/_Floriduh_ 3."They're fun to make fun of (LOL). I like calling them old and saying new terms to throw them off, but they're chill people." —u/[deleted] 4."Y'all are silly in a good way. I'm glad you guys were the first to want to talk about emotions and mental health. Thanks to that, our generation is much more emotionally intelligent than many of the previous generations. My therapist is a millennial, and she's awesome." —u/Steelspartan2 5."My brother is a millennial, and he's pretty cool. Other than the fact that millennials pretend to be '90s kids when they don't even remember the '90s, they're fine." —u/pintasaur 6."I'm not sure because I think I fall in the middle, being both millennial and Gen Z. But honestly, younger millennials are really not that different than older Gen Z in terms of interests, lifestyle, and hobbies, as well as childhood. I do think older millennials are a little narcissistic and never really grew up, but that's just my own bias from my experiences with my older siblings and friends who were born in the '80s." —u/Shiftrye 7."I poke fun at millennials for their 'millennialisms' — like making songs out of literally everything mundane or saying things like 'OMG this' and Blink-182 references — but overall, I don't actively hate millennials." —u/[deleted] 8."The only real difference between Gen Z and millennials is the media we grew up watching. We are in the same economic position, we lean the same ways politically, and we were fed and saw through all the same lies. It's literally just what shows we watched and where we watched them as kids that's different. Before anybody says slang, that stuff changes dozens of times within each generation. The language difference between older Gen Z and younger Gen Z is just as big as between millennials and Gen Z." —u/FrankThePony 9."In my opinion, I see the generations as kind of like this: greatest generation leads to boomers leads to millennials leads to Gen Alpha. Silent generation leads to Gen X leads to Gen Z. I think millennials share a lot of similarities (for better or worse) with boomers. Both had large protest cultures that gave way to a kind of almost hedonism before a crash. For boomers, it was the '60s summer of love and protests against Vietnam, followed by the greed-is-good '80s. With millennials, there was the Occupy Wall Street and Obama hope culture, plus the sleazy indie party culture in Brooklyn and LA. The only difference is millennials got absolutely screwed over by the recession and have been getting screwed ever since." "I feel like I see a lot of overlap in attitudes with Gen Z and Gen X, because Gen X was known as the original 'whatever' generation. I think that there's a lot of music and culture overlap. A lot of that '90s nostalgia that's huge with Gen Z is stuff that my Gen X dad was into in high school and college. Population-wise, Gen X and Gen Z are both smaller generations that followed two significantly larger ones, boomers and millennials." —u/Xerxes0 10."Millennials are mostly OK. There are a few that are just very goofy, but that's in every generation. I think Gen X is possibly the worst generation, followed by boomers." —u/sumskiesss 11."Why are you wearing Gen X clothing and listening to their music?" —u/No-Cry-5605 12."Some of them are low-key boomers, LOL." —u/nomoarcookiesthe2nd 13."Honestly, as a queer person, Gen Z gays hate on millennial gays way too much. Our generation doesn't realize how much harder they had it, and cringe isn't a crime. There are some millennials who make hating Gen Z their whole personality trait, but who cares really." —u/InspectionOk234 14."Millennials are largely fine. We share a lot of the same struggles. But the 'doggo' cutesy baby voice thing and thinking that making exaggerated facial expressions to chipmunked audios is funny will always make me want to curl up into a ball and implode into a fine mote of dust. But that's not all of y'all." —u/Zealousideal_Bunch77 15."Millennials really appear to be horrible parents, raising children that nobody wants to be around. So many children of millennials seem very intellectually stunted, behaviorally challenged, excessively defiant, tech-addicted, and socially inept. There is no way that every single one of these 30-something's kids I've seen has autism and/or ADHD. Maybe you're the problem. Kids from regular households seem to have issues I used to only see in children going through abuse or neglect. You put your safety at risk by babysitting these kids. Do better, guys. You of all people should know how wrong it is to give internet access to your child, yet they all have phones and tablets. And, you still plaster pictures of them all over social media. At least Gen X has the excuse of not knowing how that stuff works." "I don't even care about getting backlash. So many of you are screwing up your kids' abilities to make friends and be likable for the rest of their lives, and you don't even care. Shout-out to the millennial parents who are caring, protective, and involved. But from what I've seen, most of y'all aren't." —u/briecheeseoverdose 16."I notice a lot of millennials online being ignorantly confident about how they think Gen Z collectively grew up, which is annoying. For example, I notice a lot of millennials gatekeeping older Gen Z'ers from the 2000s. Some really can't tell the difference between someone my age and someone born in 2008. Many also feel the need to give opinions that ooze with a superiority complex on certain Gen Z topics. I see millennials in YouTube comments saying most of us are aging rapidly because we never had a childhood. They'd say that even if they thought we were aging slowly. Then, it'd be, 'Gen Z'ers never played outside, so that's why they don't have as many scars and wrinkles as previous generations. Their faces are stunted.' It's just bias. Other than this, I looked up to my younger millennial cousins when I was a kid. I think of my childhood as being closer to late millennials than younger Gen Z'ers." "I also have a very 'millennial' taste in music — most of what I listen to is 2000s garage rock. I find some things associated with millennials, like hipster clothing and scene hair, to be cringe, but I do like that you all grew up in the '90s and 2000s. I've defended millennials a lot online in the past. But whenever I see some of y'all being ignorant online, it makes me want to hate — not going to lie. You may hate on us less than previous generations hated on you, but having a superiority complex is just as bad. And most millennials seem oblivious to this. Many millennials will say they love Gen Z, but then do stuff like this. On the other side of things, it's annoying whenever people overly suck up to us." —u/[deleted] 17."I try not to always get caught up in generational divides (though I admit sometimes boomerish behavior can get to me). However, as far as they go, I do tend to see millennials and Gen Z as 'brothers and sisters in arms,' so to speak." —u/[deleted] 18."My brother's a millennial. Being born so close to your generation, I find myself relating to you guys more than my own generation." —u/Apocalpysezz 19."I think millennials are way, WAY too obsessed with generations and assigning traits to them. It's cool to see what generations are interested in or act like overall as a sociology thing, but making it part of how you understand everyday life just makes us feel othered or, at worst, some kind of zoo animal." —u/[deleted] Whether you're a proud millennial, full-on Gen Z, somewhere in the middle, or beyond, it's clear we've got more in common than not. So if you've got thoughts, feelings, or generational hot takes of your own, drop them in the comments below! Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
