Songstress Azana chats about her Sama nomination and career

It's been a year since she released her debut album and yet, not only is she nominated as the Newcomer of the Year at this year's South African Music Awards, but she is also set to grace the stage as one of the performances at the event on Saturday.

20-year-old Azana, real name Makhosazana Masango, is quickly cementing her name in the music industry.

“I'm very grateful, growing up and watching the national awards for music. It's the ripple effect of the work that we've been putting in. I was very lucky for my career to start at such a young age and it makes me so happy because it's what I've always wanted.” she tells TshisaLIVE.

The nomination and her association with Sun El Musician have already brought a lot of attention to her brand she says.

“I get surprised when people know Azana because it's still just my first year.”

Ever since she was six years old, Azana says she's been involved in music and working towards pursuing it as a career.

“Music has always been the first plan. When I was nine, my dad came back with an album by Lira and I looked at it and started crying because I felt back then that it was my destiny.”

“I wanted to get myself out there, and once I made the music and started doing live performances it fell into the right hands and then I started working with Sun El Musician and his brother and that's how I ended up in the studio and making my album with them.”

Azana is not just a singer but a third-year law student too and she has been juggling the two worlds.

“As I grew older I realised that it's not my only destiny, I'm actually really interested in law as well. With studying law I've really learnt that you really need to know the paperwork, it helps you a lot. It makes me more aware of what I'm doing.”

There's more in the pipeline for her though — she wants to try her hand at acting in the near future too.

“I'm not just a musician. I'm very interested in theatre. I'll never drift from my music but you'll see me venturing out into other things that you've never seen me in, like on TV on a soapie and movies.”

While she waits for her acting dreams to come true, Azana is focusing on her musical career and says she hopes to one day work with Lira, Msaki and Beyoncé.

“This is my introduction to the industry, I'm right at the beginning and that's scary. I have to keep working hard to get that big break,” she says.

“I've always wanted to portray myself as someone who has believed in what they have done ... even something as small as an Instagram post. I always wanted to make things happen for me, standing for what I believe in and believing that it's possible for me,” she adds.