Music
Zoë Modiga: In Control, And Diggin' It
SAMA-nominated Zoë Modiga On The Art Of Ass-Kicking
Zoë Modiga's chillin' on the elevated level of Joburg Theatre when we meet. She spots a cap, brown, and wears dark-rimmed spectacles that accentuate her elegant facial features, cheekbones notwithstanding. Holding court with her are two other people; her bassist Banda Banda, alongside whom she shall be performing in the main auditorium directly opposite us in a few days as part of the theatre's Africa Month concert programme, is one of them. A headline date at the University of Johannesburg's Jazz Month concert and an appearance on the SAMA awards' main stage are yet to follow.
Zoë Modiga
© Tseliso Monaheng
"I think it's the season of affirmation when it comes to a lot of things. I'm just finding that things are falling into place, in some weird way. There was a time when I was wondering how it'd all work out," she shares as we settle into conversation.
It's been a good few months for the vocalist, whose spellbinding renditions of mega pop stars' biggest hits kept viewer stats on the up as Mzansi tuned in to watch episode after another of the South African version of The Voice. That was back in 2016.
Zoë Modiga
© Tseliso Monaheng
Zoë launched her astounding, groundbreaking debut album Yellow shortly afterwards. The double-disc has been nominated under the Best African Artist and Best Jazz categories. It's an impressive feat, given that she released the dense, layered offering independent of the record label machine.
"There's just a lot more well done Zoë's in terms of recognition of the talent, and of the message. And it's making me feel like I'm having an impact. I'm not big on trophies, but as people, we all need some kind of affirmation. Sometimes having a golden trophy will make you feel like a million bucks," she says.
I'm not big on trophies, but as people, we all need some kind of affirmation.
Zoë Modiga
© Tseliso Monaheng
A little-known fact is that the album was rejected upon it being presented to some label execs. One wonders whether she gave 'em the finger upon hearing the news that she'd been nominated. She, unfortunately, did not, though it would've gone down swell.
"I'm one of those people who, any milestone and accomplishment, I think I experience it in a very weird way. I'm not really a jump-up-and-down person. It takes me back; it's just like whoa, what's going on, I don't know how to act around this thing."
Zoë says that the Best African Artist category is most dear to her. She feels that she's in a space now, more than ever, where she's open to seeking out various styles — vocal styles, musical styles — from different parts of the continent to incorporate into her music.
We then move to discuss the blurry lines between the art that is music, and the business of music. Of the latter, she offers: "It's almost as though, if you're a person of real talent, with a real gift, you have to try and outsmart the game. Otherwise, you drown in that love that you have, it doesn't become enough."
Zoë Modiga
© Tseliso Monaheng
Yellow is a revelation. At twenty-three songs long, it plays like an exhibition of Zoë's talents, pairing her strongest gifts — songwriting, music composition and voice — with a supporting band that artfully translates her intentions with a purity rarely heard on a normal day, in a normal world.
The biggest takeaway, though, is that she owns each and every part of it.
Says Zoë in closing: "It's empowering. By the time I have enough force behind me, I would know what exactly what each person needs to do, which means I'm empowered, which means we're all happy, and no one's trying to do weird things to anyone's legacy. That's freaking gorgeous. And to know that there's a lot of us that are operating in those spaces, those in-between's, is consoling as well because I'm really not the face of that experience."