Msaki on why it matters to use her platform to bring attention to social issues

Mellifluous vocalist Msaki is anticipating baring her heart to her fans in her upcoming concert Platinumb Heart at The Lyric Theatre Gold Reef City on February 25 following the release of her second album Platinumb Heart Beating in late 2021.

The concert, which is a collaboration with dancer Kristi-Leigh Gresse, who is the Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner for Dance, is set to tackle issues close to the singer's heart.

“The art is an extension of the posture of my heart. Not only do I have protest songs but I also have lullaby and love songs over my own consciousness, over my own hope and sense of justice,” she told TshisaLIVE.

The first song she wrote was a reaction to the violence of Marikana, and she's kept the same momentum in bringing attention to social issues, unveiling the emotional state of her being.

“With so much violence becoming part of the daily national language with our social media news and jokes. I was, 'what is happening to our hearts' and also questioning the leader's hearts on what kind of leaders and hearts must you have to deploy people to kill your own. Same question when deploying soldiers to put bullets in students who are protesting,”

“I was also saying that with this project that I'm trying to fight for life in my own heart. Not for it to become numb and unfeeling as a mother and as a woman in a country that is the rape capital of the world, that has gender-based violence as a buzzword, as a slogan on plastic packets and company strategies as a way to get more funding 

Msaki said she believes the country has become desensitised to issues that plague it and has found her thought-provoking music helps to shed light on necessary conversations. 

“People are having conversations about this. I'm not the only one who thinks this  is wrong. I might be the one who has time to say  it is wrong and make a little musical monument of it.”

It's all part of her calling, Msaki said, with her fans having described her music as 'a giant hug'. The Fetch Your Life hitmaker hopes to bring solace to Mzansi.

“I can't help but be sensitive and moved to write and think about these things. If I can't say 'ouch', what about the person who's got a 9 to 5 job and no luxury to think about our collective pain whereas it's part of my calling to be like an emotional yardstick for us and it's not something you choose. You are born knowing you need to write. I know I need to lament.

“My job is to ask questions, my job is to lament. Questions are not just posed to be poking questions of power, they are to keep our 'ouch' button activated. We can't slip into thinking some of these things are normal. We are not growing if we're not crying.”