Unathi Msengana (pictured) is one of the busiest women in the South African entertainment industry. She is a radio DJ, a TV personality, a musician, a mother and a wife. She seems to perform her balancing act so well that she seems to be everywhere at once. And now you can catch her on stage, too.
To celebrate the success of her new album, Alive, the singer has scheduled just one show at The Lyric Theatre, on March 13.
“I have a newfound energy and drive and feel like I’m at the beginning of my career. With many albums, I think I was going through a lot of rites of passage, so my music was different. I was getting married so it was a year of lobola engagement in the cultural aspect. Then I was also recording when I had just given birth. My husband had also lost his best friend and that’s why the energy of the last album was very centred and still,” said the bubbly singer.
After releasing With Love (2011), Msengana took a three-year break from music and sought to invest her energy in other areas of her life while she let the music brew within.
“With this album I have lost a whole lot of weight. I have to remind myself why I wanted to be a musician. That passion had to come through and I had to force myself to get out of my comfort zone. I am a 36-year old married woman of two and I have to show all that in my music,” she said.
The event at The Lyric Theatre comes at a time when Msengana has enjoyed much success with Alive.
“I released the album late last year and it has already sold out. It is the first time in my professional life that I have had four singles from one album be on high rotation. It is very humbling. Also to be nominated for Best Female at the Metro FM Music Awards was also humbling for an album that was a late entry,” she said ecstatically.
The key to her latest success comes from the direction she took on this latest project.
“I am so grateful to South Africa for receiving me with open arms. The beauty of this project is that certain singles are big in certain sections of the country so I am excited that I am getting love. I love the fact that we managed to put out an album that is diverse.
“I have songs that I wrote for my daughter and my mom and I think people do relate to it. These kind of songs start conversations and people open up,” she expanded.
Msengana invites you to The Lyric where she will seduce you with her latest sound, and maybe even tickle your funny bone.
“Friday, March 13 will be exciting. I have a few things prepared. I have Anele Mdoda hosting it, while Celeste Ntuli will do the comedy. I went this way because I love femininity and the three of us have had conversations of collaborating for the longest time,” she concluded.
• The Alive show, The Lyric, Gold Reef City, March 13. R150-R335 at Computicket.