Being a woman of substance and wanting to use her voice as a tool to fight against women abuse, inspired Dr Nomdakazana Dlamini to pursue a career in music.
Despite having gone through a rollercoaster ride in building her career and brand, she has persevered for 16 years in the industry, building herself, and after two albums and four singles, has the accolades to show.
“The journey has been a rollercoaster, something I will make sure upcoming female artists don’t go through. In all that perseverance, contentment, discipline, and knowing my worth as a female artist, have kept me soldiering on,” Dlamini said.
“I was inspired to start singing by being a woman of substance and an ambassador to women. I got called by the universe to stand up and use my voice as a tool to fight against women abuse. If you listen to my music, 95 percent of my songs are just about standing up for women,” she said.
Dlamini is an Eastern Cape sharpened talent, having been born in Nyandeni and growing up in Hillcrest, Mthatha. She recently returned from Tanzania as part of her cultural ambassadorial roles.
“As Mzansi’s International Cultural Exchange Ambassador, I was invited to represent SA in Arusha, Tanzania, as they hold their annual Massai Global Festival. Massai is the most respected tribe for their unique customs. Their festival attracts people from all over the world,” she said.
A lot of sacrifice had to be made over the years, she said, to have a meaningful impact on her journey of cultural exchange.
“I started this thing (cultural exchange journey) in 2018, and I had to sell my car to raise funds for it. I started in Nigeria and proceeded to the République du Bénin,” Dlamini said.
She thanked the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture for their support since 2019.
Just before that, in June, Dlamini was in Dar es Salaam to celebrate 30 years of SA freedom as hosted by the SA embassy in Tanzania.
“Being an International Cultural Exchange Ambassador, I take RSA culture beyond borders to different countries, sharing our dishes, getting into music with those artists, teaching them our languages while singing in their languages as well, then getting into concert to exhibit on the main day.
“The whole motive is to make the world understand how we live and that we are not the brutal unruly country the world perceives us to be,” she said.
Dlamini is currently busy with her extended play, Singonozala, which she intends to release in November. She is the founder of Mzansi Traditional and Cultural Music Awards (MTCMA).
“All nine provinces take part at the MTCM Awards, but mostly EC and KZN win. It has always been my wish to bring these awards home, instead of being in Gauteng. I’m on my fourth annual awards now,” she said.
