There are negative connotations about kids living their parents’ dreams.
This usually implies that children pursue specific dreams under pressure from their parents to fulfil their own unfulfilled dreams.
However, for media personality Pearl Thusi, there’s a bit of a twist.
On Thursday, Pearl will release a song titled Sodwa featuring celebrated Maskandi legend iHashi Elimhlophe.
“We were not competitive, but I lived to impress my father since I was a child, I’d do anything to impress my dad. This is just one of those things, so I might as well make him a part of it even though he can’t physically be here to celebrate it,” Pearl tells The Citizen.
She says her father was a fan of iHashi Elimhlophe.
“He was a Zulu man from KZN…he loved his Vusi Ximba, his R&B…they used to call him Lionel Ritchie in the ‘hood because he had this afro,” she says.
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Pearl working with iHashi Elimhlophe
She says working with iHashi Elimhlophe is like an ode to her late dad. Her father was not just a fan of music, but he was also part of a band.
“My dad is part of every decision that I make, even in all the sad moments in my life.”
The collaboration between the two happened after she approached Ihashi Elimhlophe’s wife, actress and musician Linah Ngcobo, who facilitated the whole process.
“I sent them three or two songs and said ‘I’d be happy to work with uBaba…here are songs, if there’s anything that moves him, I’d be greatly happy. He chose the song.”
“He did it and I was in tears,” shares Pearl about Ihashi Elimhlophe’s contribution.
“I feel covered. Like there’s a spiritual blanket has covered me,” she says of working with Ihashi Elimhlophe.
Several people crossed her mind when she thought about who to feature on her first single.
“I thought of a lot of people I felt would be opportunistic features and…one they might not be interested and two, the success of this song will then suddenly be because of that person and not because of the efforts that I made.”
She says her choice was both strategic and impactful.
“I felt the nostalgia of the song needed something that was quintessentially African nostalgia and Maskandi is powerful as a genre all on its own.”
The song is reminiscent of Afro pop trio Mina Nawe and other noughties Afro pop groups, while still keeping up with today’s uptempo sound.
She says they used the melody from Sun-El Music and Simmy’s Ntaba Ezikude.
“We interpolated that melody,” she says.
“I wanted it to be a song that’s easy to listen to because the next song I’m putting out has a lot more spiritual depth.”
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Celebrating love, in all its forms
The lyrics of the song ooze feelings of love and the bond between loved ones. However, Pearl says they don’t indicate she’s in a relationship.
“I’m in love, but with myself,” she says adding that the ditty is a celebration of several kinds of love, not just the romantic kind.
“I’ve been telling people that this song has to celebrate all forms of love. I’ve found the most comforting love in family and friends to be honest. Romantic love hasn’t been the most reliable in my experience…but it’s to say that love comes in all these forms,” shares the actress.
In a section of the song Pearl sings: Thina samba sodwa/ Samba nge bhanoyi/ Sishiye abaloyi baby.
“If you look at mine and Zinhle’s friendship, like we were on airplanes travelling together sometimes and leave all this negative energy that people were always serving to us. It’s celebrating friendship…it could even be your pet, it could even be your plant, I don’t care as long as you are finding that which provides love in your spirit and you celebrate it.”
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Honouring her parents
This holistic approach to love in the song is also expressed in the track’s cover art, which is a photo of her parents in their heyday.
“My dad loved taking those nostalgic photos…there’s so many of them, I could release an album and every single with its own cover art with my parent’s pictures.”
Pearl speaks fondly of her parents, specifically her father’s musical contribution to her life.
“We all listened to what he liked. That contribution that he made to my musicality has been really powerful and contributed a lot to what the song sounds like.”
“I miss my parents very dearly, so in any way shape or form that I can keep them alive I will do that. That is a big part of why I’m doing this and doing it in this way, it’s to celebrate them and their love, not only the love for each other that they had, but also the love that I shared with them in its own special way.”
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Pearl in the music
She wrote most of the lyrics for the song, with rapper Reason, also known as Sizwe Alakine, serving as a guiding hand in some parts.
“He offered a lot of guidance because I was very nervous, feeling very vulnerable and scared. He’s a good friend of mine; we’ve been friends for years. So he offered that friendship and that comfort and that guidance that I needed to believe in the lyrics that I’m writing.”
Sodwa was made three years ago. “I’m telling you, I’ve just been scared for the longest time,” she admits.
Pearl says she has about eight songs in the vault ready to be heard by the world, which she plans to gradually release in the coming months.
“I’ve made a lot of music. I have a studio in my home. So, I really, really care about this. I’m feeling vulnerable and afraid but I’m equally excited and hopeful.”
Pearl’s flexibility
During her Comedy Central Roast last year, Pearl was made fun of for doing a variety of things in her career, from acting to owning a gin business to DJ’ing, and now she’s gone into singing.
However, stepping back and looking at her career, one has to admire her willingness to try anything.
She says her decision to even go into music now is both an intentional move to pursue something she’s passionate about and an opportunity-driven decision.
“I can’t do any acting job now, there’s a certain standard I’ve created for myself…it’s the characters that are available out there to play for me. I got tired of certain conversations that surround my work based on my appearance and I also wanted to explore other possibilities and opportunities of what I’m capable of and things that I’ve always dreamed of doing.”
She adds: “I either felt like I wasn’t allowed to or no one would take me seriously or whatever. I had to let go of all that fear and face failure in the face and say ‘you know what, I don’t care even if it doesn’t work out, at least I know that I tried’. I couldn’t sleep at night with the idea that I was too scared to try.”
She says once one confronts the fear of failure, it can transform into the most empowering and driving force in one’s life.
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