Samthing Soweto on finally being able to open up to his fans on his new album

The Citizen

4 days ago

Samthing's previous albums have all been personal to some extent; however, this one takes listeners on a trip into his childhood.
Samthing Soweto released his third studio album, Touch is a Move (Good Morning), a month ago, and unlike his previous work, this project lets his listeners into his world in ways he previously hadn't.
'If I was closed off, part of the reason is that I exist in a very tough industry and I felt that I had to. Now, if I'm opening up, it's only because I've found a way to deal with it. The best way to deal with it is to keep the main thing the main thing,' Samthing tells The Citizen.
His previous albums have all been personal to some extent; however, this one takes listeners on a trip into his childhood in Soweto.
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Samthing closing off himself
He says he was closed off because he didn't trust the industry as a whole.
'The music industry is a very tough place to be in. It's tough to exist and to be happy and to be open in an industry for an artist,' he says.
With nearly two decades as a professional musician now, Samthing has somewhat found a balance in being able to exercise his artistry while also handling fame.
'I'm a very practical person and, as an artist, I feel like sometimes that is not expected of me,' he says.
'They actually expect me to be very artistic in everything, including my decisions and to be passionate and to just be propelled by 'the spirit'. And I do have my fair share of passions, but some of my creative decisions are not propelled by passion alone.'
He says the element of entertainment has played a part in his decision to do this album now.
'They [decisions] are also propelled by wanting to make content that most people will like. Because there is nothing more painful than doing something for an audience and they don't resonate with it.'
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An idealist with a practical outlook
His above statement holds. Samthing came into the industry as a member of an a cappella group, The Soil. He then released music as part of a trio, The Fridge, and also released music as a solo artist.
His music with The Fridge and his earlier solo work is the kind that a bohemian audience is fond of, not so much the widespread audience of Amapiano, which he instantly attracted when he released Isiphithiphithi in 2019.
Songs like I'm Feeling Down and Dreamin' of U are worlds apart from hits like Lotto and Akulaleki. However, despite their sonic differences, Samthing's gentle, infectious voice and shrewd artistic genius are a mainstay in his music, regardless of the tempo or genre.
If he were a cricketer, Samthing would be an all-rounder in the class of Jacques Kallis: lethal with the hits as a prime fast bowler and grounded in the art, as a purist Test batsman.
'I felt like telling a very practical story about my life would be very interesting for my audience. I do understand that I don't give them a lot to work with sometimes, I leave a lot to imagination.'
'So ja, I felt like maybe people might be interested in finding out what it felt like for me to be a five-year-old and to live my life at the time. To be honest, that's a story I often tell to people that are close to me.'
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Radio element
Interludes in albums are nothing new, but for this album, Samthing roped in former Ukhozi FM radio drama producer Mpumelelo Ngidi.
'Through her help and her sitting down with me and understanding that I often talk about my past, she was able to build a version of my story for me that I could use in the music,' says Samthing.
Through the seven interludes on the album, listeners are given a seat in the Mdolomba household.
From the snoring of his uncle on Goodmorning, to him bickering with his sisters about wanting to watch TV, it is a world that his fans didn't know of.
The most adorable of the skits on the album is probably Goodnight, where we're inside the family's nightly prayer.
What makes it adorable and humorous is hearing a young Samthing listing his trivial prayer requests and his granny praying for everything and everyone that comes to her mind.
'I did have a granny who prayed long, who prayed about everything that we were going through in the 90s, from politics, to churches… everything and anything she knew about she would mention in the prayer. We'd start as the whole family praying together but for the next 15 minutes she'll go on by herself,' shares Samthing.
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A love album and a personal story
He says the first draft of the interludes was to create a story based on love.
'Mpumelelo listened to the music and decided that she'd create a story about how these two [lovers] met. It was a nice telenovela type [of] story,' says the muso.
'How I did it was to reflect the connection between love stories of a man my age with my challenges, my life story my day-to-day and my past as a child.'
'The person that I am today is because of the things that happened in my past. Through her [Mpumelelo] help I was able to piece together a story that would make sense that could be used to marry the two concepts, a love album and a personal story.'
His words are echoed by the eighth track on the album, Amagents, which is an ode to his daughter, where he warns her about some of the dangers of men – men who are like him.
One of the better songs on the album, Ndandatho, is a song that Samthing heard being sung by a singer on TikTok, Sicelo, who is homeless.
'He came up with that song; I saw it on TikTok on a video. He was singing that song on the streets of Pietermaritzburg for money, he was basically basking. That melody never escaped me; from the time I heard it sounded amazing.'
Sicelo is credited as the co-writer of the song, under his full name Sphelele Zondi.
On the legal side of things, Samthing sourced the help of RAMS Attorneys. 'Samthing Soweto is a long-standing client of the firm,' RAMS Attorneys told The Citizen.
RAMS Attorneys provided legal services to Samthing in negotiation and closing of agreements with producers, features, distributors, and publishing-related aspects.
The firm didn't want to comment on the dispute between their client and DJ Maphorisa, where there were allegations of unpaid royalties, misrepresentation of contributions, and a lack of transparency in their working relationship regarding the song Amalanga Awafani.
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