Munya Vomo
In R&B circles, when you hear the name “Cici”, the first thing you think about is the American singer, Ciara. Yet, a new voice is in town, and it is South African, possibly sounding much better than the Goodies singer. You might have heard the hit single Runaway on radio and wondered who is behind it.
“A year ago I was doing a cabaret show in Montecasino in Joburg. I had been doing that since 2011 and it had me travelling to places like Bloemfontein, Cape Town, the Seychelles and Turkey. I was trying to break into the music industry. I was impatient at the time, but I feel like all that experience prepared me for the musician that I am today,” explained Cici.
“‘Cici’ was taken from my name, Busisiwe. My full name is Busisiwe Thwala and I was born in Ladysmith. I grew up in the church and used to sing quite a lot. My dad would have me sing every time we had visitors. He would tell them about me and ask me to sing for them. There were eight of us so I was chuffed that I could do something that the rest of my siblings could not,” she added.
The singer came to Gauteng for the purpose of her schooling, but the dream of making music was always in the background.
“I moved to Joburg to study the dramatic arts at Wits and studied up to the third year, but I had to drop out because of the financial situation that we had at home at the time.
“I have now started studying again, but psychology this time, at University of Johannesburg, just so I can have something to fall back on,” she said.
Soon her path was to cross with that of kwaito star Arthur Mafokate, who runs the legendary record label, 999.
“999 has a programme called SA Arts and Development Association (SAADA) which looks out for new talent. I won the Joburg leg and was the overall winner after further competition. Arthur signed me to his label on the spot and I have released a single called Runaway with has been nominated at the upcoming Metro FM Awards and I am very excited about that,” said Cici.
The nomination is for Best R&B Single and she goes up against Zonke (Reach It), Nathi (Nomvula), Maleh (Feels So Good) and Vincent Bones (My Lady).
The success of that song might have been welcome to the singer, but it had its shortcomings.
“It’s difficult to finish the rest of the album because, on one hand, you work to perform what’s out there and yet you need to make time for your own material.”
She continues: “A lot of people think that Runaway is an international track and I think our generation is ready for my sound. The song is about a girl who likes a guy and she is tempting to him to fall in love and run away with him,” she said.
Runaway is available on iTunes.