It’s been almost two years since former Idols SA contestant Shekhinah released her debut album Rose Gold. The album went on to become a multi SAMA winner, taking home Album of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Female Artist of the Year.
The album became a critical and commercial hit, selling more than 30000 copies gaining platinum status. This has catapulted the Suited singer into superstardom.
We chatted to Shekhinah after her performance at the Heart FM Festival in Cape Town to see what she has in store for this year.
The 'Please Mr' singer said it’s been quite the whirlwind experience and that it was a great start for her. She further mentions that she has bigger plans and that she is really grateful for the awards.
Having made such a big splash with her debut album, she is hard at work on her sophomore album even though she has a busy schedule. She’s not only performing across the country but internationally too.
Speaking on the progress of her new album she says, “I’m so excited. I think it’s a more mature version of me. I’m really excited to document the growth.
“Going through Rose Gold was an adolescent phase where you just saw everything as perfect; to now realising that things are actually not so perfect.”
She continues: “I just wanna be able to guide everyone through that awkward phase of being 24/25/26.”
Even before her album, she had been featured on multiple hit songs, including the Sketchy Bongo summer jam Back To The Beach and DJ Black Coffee’s chilled vibes track Your Eyes. The hit parade continued with her project where all three singles, Suited, Please Mr and Different, enjoyed major radio play and huge streaming numbers.
When asked why she thinks the public has gravitated towards her music so much, she says, “I think it’s the lyrical content. I think it’s about saying what people want to hear. So people want to know that it’s OK to be different.
“People wanna sing a song they can sing to their loved ones. It’s just topics that are close to everybody’s heart”.
Shekhinah mentions that one thing that is missing from the South African music scene is songwriters.
And that there are many great vocalists that could benefit from songwriters, stating that many of the big international singers have songwriters behind them.
She adds that local artists are trying to break into the global market with big hits, but without songwriters making it impossible to have a hit song internationally.
Shekhinah is also one of the South African acts who has constantly had queer representation in all her music videos.
“I think it’s just something that’s in me. I grew up with queer people. I grew up with a lesbian mom. And that’s my norm. The difference is my norm and it’s not something I really think about.”
For this year, Shekhinah is going on her solo tour along with new music and is planning on doing a lot of collaborations.