By Philasande Gumede
Award-winning artists Mawhoo and Lwah Ndlunkulu have teamed up for a 15-track Maskandi album, ISITHEMBU, under the name Zulu Queens.
The collaboration follows the release of their song Nembeza, which the pair said created a strong connection and inspired them to work together on a full album.
“Lwah is a great musician and when I worked with her, our energies matched and I believe in connection,” Mawhoo explained.
Lwah shared the same sentiments.
“When I was working with Mawhoo on Nembeza, I loved the connection so much. From there, I just really wanted to work with her because the energy is amazing when we are in the studio,” she said.
The Zulu Queens also revealed that they experienced a setback during the making of the album after losing recordings of their songs and having to record them again within a week.
Mawhoo, who is known for hits such as Bengicela and Uzizwa Kanjani, admitted that she was initially reluctant to work on a full Maskandi album because the genre was outside her comfort zone.
“I was so scared, I was scared to do Maskandi because this is new and Maskandi has no filter, but they booked a hotel with writers, and everything looked good. Let’s work. When I got there, the energy was [good] and I was happy and everything just happened,” she said.
In an exclusive interview with Credible Source, the pair also shared words of encouragement for women who aspire to pursue careers in the music industry, particularly in male-dominated genres.
“Iphupho lomuntu alifi umnikazi esaphila,” Lwah said.
The isiZulu saying roughly translates to “A person’s dream does not die while its owner is still alive.”
Mawhoo also encouraged women to believe in themselves and not fear taking up space in the industry.
“As women, let’s show people that nothing is impossible,” she said.
Despite losing their recordings and having to recreate the songs within a week, the Zulu Queens proved to be unstoppable. They have officially released ISITHEMBU, which is now available on major music streaming platforms.
