Nakhane Touré’s latest album has helped him come to terms with his estranged father.
The author, actor and singer, who starred in the film Inxeba (The Wound), says he is no longer angry with his father, who he once described as being "dead" to him.
Now performing under the name Nakhane, he released his second album, You Will Not Die, in March after moving to London in February.
"I knew what I wanted it to sound like. I knew I wanted the piano and voices to be central, there are lots and lots of voices.
"I was going back to my formative years. But me going back to my childhood meant that I was also going back to stuff that I thought I'd moved on from," he told the Sunday Times.
"My biological father called me on my birthday [February 3]. Funny enough, he didn't know it was my birthday. He called to talk about how proud he was because of the film. I was in Paris; normally I'd be very angry. I was waiting for that knee-jerk reaction and it wasn't there and I realised it's because I finally dealt with it and it was because of this album - it helped me have empathy."
Nakhane was not raised by his biological father, who he has in the past claimed to have met only once, when he was at initiation school.
DEATH THREATS
The artist, who hails from Alice in the Eastern Cape, said he had put acting on hold to focus on his music.
Earlier this month he performed at a private rooftop party in Cannes after walking the red carpet at the international film festival for the premiere of a Chinese film, Ash is the Purest White.
He has had an eventful year, which included scoring a South African Film and Television Award for his lead role in Inxeba, which is now showing in the UK.
The Xhosa coming-of-age film was slated by some who were unhappy with the theme of homosexuality at an initiation school. Nakhane came under heavy criticism and even received deaths threats.
But he has moved on, adamant that he will no longer talk about the film.
"It ends up not being about the film but about the reaction and people aren't really interested in the film, they're interested in the drama around the film. People only cared about how I reacted to death threats and deep down I don't think they really care. I'm tired of talking about that because it leaves me exhausted."
'HEARING PEOPLE LAUGH'
He has been on tour promoting his new album. On a recent trip to Johannesburg, a Parktown rooftop provided the perfect backdrop for the interview days before he returned to Europe.
"Johannesburg is the best city in the world, I mean that. The weather is great, the people are great, and it's buzzing with life," he said.
"The thing I miss the most when I'm away from home is walking down the street and hearing people laugh. I miss people dancing in the street listening to music, the excitement of being alive and the joy," he said.
Nakhane is back in South Africa this weekend for the Zakifo Music Festival in Durban, the Bassline Fest in Johannesburg and the Bushfire Festival in Swaziland.
Then he will embark on a multi-country tour, and will perform at the Brighton Festival in the UK and Afropunk in Paris and New York...