'Because We Are' is a love letter to the nation as it is also a campaign encouraging unity, resilience, and action.
The song was written by Zolani Mahola and Aron Halevi (both of Freshlyground).
“The campaign is around building national identity, really, and encouraging every South African to know that they have a part to play in creating the society that we want,” said Mahola.
For this project the songwriters collaborated with education rights organisation, Shikaya.
“In writing the lyrics we then enrolled fellow creatives. The power in that is artists coming together and saying this is the way they play their part in society towards building the dream of this great nation. It’s almost like a pay-it-forward thing. How will you play your part and engage.”
The song features 30 top South African musicians, including Vusi Mahlasela, Amanda Black, Arno Carstens, J’Something, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Karen Zoid, Zoe Modiga, Ready D, Khuli Chana and more with creative input from Shikaya director Dylan Wray.
ZOLANI Mahola has come together with 30 of the country’s top musicians, including Vusi Mahlasela, Amanda Black, Arno Carstens, J’Something, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Karen Zoid, Zoe Modiga, Ready D and Khuli Chana to produce the campaign and song Because We Are.
The music video was created by artist and animator, Thabang Lehobye.
“The focus of the video is seeing the journey of South Africa, seeing where we’ve been and where we are now and having a sense of what our future might look like. We see the journey through the eyes of a little girl,” said Mahola.
Both the music video and song will be launched on Mandela Day, at the Solidarity Cup cricket match at SuperSport Park.
“I’m looking forward to putting it out into the world. It’s been an interesting project that’s happened during the lockdown. With the economy being what it is and funding and sponsorships as well, we had aimed to be able to offer the artists an honorarium to be involved in the project, but they all came together regardless.”
The contributing artists worked in isolation, recording their parts in their homes. Producers Mr Mallum and RJ Benjamin blended the parts together to create the anthem track.
“It is saying that we stand with you, so they all came on board generously in tough circumstances. It was at the very beginning of the lockdown and people couldn’t get to any studios, so it was a significant contribution and labour of love from the music community,” said Mahola.
Ultimately, Mahola’s aim is for the campaign to be a continuous conversation.
“We want to hear from people on their learning and what they have picked up from this pandemic. What kind of changes they have found necessary to make whether good or bad. At the base of it, I see it as a vision exercise almost - what is the kind of society we create knowing what we know now.”
Mahola added that as a country, there hasn’t been much resilience when it comes to the systems in place.
“We must talk about the changes we want to see. We want to hear from the young people; how they want to live, whether they feel they have agency and a part to play.”
Shikaya will be creating resources to challenge learners to think about resilience and being active citizens that teachers can use in schools as part of Life Orientation lessons.
“It’s been a hectic time. People are ravaged. There’s a lot of heart in this campaign. It’s a love for this nation and coming out stronger on the other side,” said Mahola.