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Interview: @ZakesBantwiniSA Breaks Down How He, @Nomcebozikode & @wouterkellerman Recorded A GRAMMY-Winning Song

By @Ofentse Phukubye & SeptemberEleven on 02/20/2023 in Interview

Zakes Bantwini recently made history by winning a GRAMMY, alongside ‘Jerusalema’ hitmaker Nomcebo Zikode and Wouter Kellerman for the collaborative song, ‘Bayethe’.  The three artists walked away with the Best Global Music Performance trophy for their collaborative single ‘Bayethe’. Zakes received a hero’s welcome when he landed at King Shaka International Airport. 

A lot has been said about the song and the win both locally and internationally; some people feel the award should have gone to Burna Boy as his song was bigger. 

On a Monday afternoon at the headquarters of his Independent Media Group Africa agency headquarters in Rosebank, Zakes Bantwini opened himself up to questions from the media. He discussed, among other things, the intentionality behind ‘Bayethe’, his plans for IMG Africa, his upcoming stadium show, his upcoming last album and more. 

NB: This interview has been edited for clarity and length. 

Judging from the PR you did for the nomination, it seemed you knew you were going to win already. 

I had a good feeling. When making this single, we studied what the GRAMMYs wanted in order for us to qualify for the award in the specific category and we then hit the studio and began recording the song. We could have gone with an English chorus but we chose something that will stand out and relate with a lot of Africans. We never submitted the song to any radio stations, all we did was submit it to the GRAMMYs and the rest is history. 

Burna Boy, whose song ‘Last Last’, was nominated in the same category wasn’t too happy that the award didn’t go to him. Which makes sense; his song is way bigger than yours. Why do you think your song won? 

The category was looking for originality, ethnicity, indigenous Instruments and vocals or anything indigenous. That’s why it is called Global Performance. At no stages did it say it is looking for radio spins or popularity. There are categories within the GRAMMYs that look at that but for this one in particular, they focused on authenticity and originality. What made our record win the award is the Maskandi guitar of which you will not get anywhere in the world except for here as well as a Zulu voice in the form of Nomcebo’s voice as well as the flute. It is original, as it has no sample. If there is one song that needed to win in that category, it’s the song that won the GRAMMY.

What sounds can we expect on your final album this year?

The album is still in the works. This being my final album, I will play around with sounds as I always wanted to create arena/stadium type of music. Take ‘Osama’ for example, when making the song, I could picture a lot of people singing along and this made me become heavy on my approach towards the music as it touches more people on a deeper level. 

I want to also utilise this album to introduce you to brand new artists as I want fans to have their favourites. Currently, I am working with Maline Aura, Raga and all of those guys as they are next in line.

What other things do you have planned this year apart from releasing your last studio album?

I'm planning on hosting my first annual stadium show in Cape Town called Abantu, and I'm hoping that the show will be able to be a platform for most artists who would be part of the show moving forward. I will obviously be headlining this year’s show but the next ones will need new artists to headline. 

I also plan to expand the agency that me and my business partner currently run which is IMG. We want IMG to represent talent across the globe in various spaces including sports. My qualification from Harvard will assist with amplifying the tools and reach of the agency as I have an understanding of what an entertainment agency needs. The agency currently represents two GRAMMY-winning artists which is Nomcebo and I.

We also have a relationship with the GRAMMY Museum where we will be conducting panels and workshops that will grant Africans the opportunity to speak and have partners speaking on African music.

Visit the official Independent Media Group Africa website and stream ‘Bayethe’ below:

 

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