The funniest thing happened the other day when I was calling gospel singer Thobekile Mkwananzi for an interview. She must have been far from her phone, or she had it on silent, but whatever it was, she did not hear it ring when I tried for the first time.
I patiently waited for her to pick up but I got to the strangest voice-mail message that I have ever heard. There was a woman singing about the love of God for what seemed like an eternity. Then came the beep. She could not have heard my message clearly because I was laughing while trying to tell her I had called.
But that’s Mkwananzi for you. Everything about her is unusual.
She is a talented singer, who was nominated for the Best Traditional category in the Crown Gospel Awards recently.
“I was very happy to receive it because it was a tough category,” she said.
This would make sense because she was up against Fikile Mlomo, a fast-growing gospel sensation who aces just about every song she sings.
Born in KwaZulu-Natal, Mkwananzi grew up oblivious to the fact that she had a great singing voice. Her talent only came to her attention when she joined the Student Christian Movement at high school.
After school she was involved with two evangelists, pastors SD Gumbi and NJ Sithole, who paved her way to stardom by introducing her to well-known gospel singer Hlengiwe Mhlaba.
In 2007, Hlengiwe invited Mkwananzi to sing one of her songs during a live recording of her Live DVD in Durban: Playhouse.
It was probably just another night for Hlengiwe but for Mkwananzi it was life-changing.
“The thing about me is I can’t preach but I can sing, so I decided to mix the two and get my message across,” she said, explaining why she chose gospel music.
With Sipho Makhabane as her producer and Hlengiwe Mhlaba mentoring her, Mkwananzi can’t go wrong and her future looks bright.
“People know me from the time I was featured on Hlengiwe’s album and so that helps me with recogni-tion. Also, for my 2010 album we shot a video called Yehla Mlilo, which also helps with publicity,” she said.
Her music can be described as home-brewed gospel, which has elements of the old and the new. She does a number of traditional renditions of well-known gospel tunes that your grandmother could sing along to. That said, she also has new material that could compete with any contemporary urban singer out there – not something everyone in music can say.
Mkwananzi’s latest album Wozani Sihambe is a scorcher on the airwaves. Get yourself a copy and find out what the fuss is about.