Simphiwe Dana
Simphiwe Dana (* 1980 in Butterworth , Transkei ) is a South African singer. Having grown up with the traditional music of her homeland, she combines African pop , hip-hop , soul , gospel and jazz in her oeuvre . In South Africa she has been one of the best-known stars for several years, in Europe she is primarily known in the field of so-called world music .
Dana composes and writes the lyrics of her own songs, mostly singing in isiXhosa , only a few in English. She names Lena Horne , Sarah Vaughan and Dorothy Masuka as musical role models . In her songs she deals with the history of black people, especially in South Africa, sings about the importance of their own traditions and the pursuit of freedom and self-determination, especially of women.
Life and music
Simphiwe Dana belongs to the Xhosa people . She grew up as the eldest of four siblings in small towns in the homeland of Transkeis , such as Butterworth and Lusikisiki , in simple circumstances. She began to sing as a little girl, for example, as she says when she fetched water with a bucket from a nearby river early in the morning and sang traditional songs. Her voice, she says, came from her mother. Through her father, a preacher, she came to church choral music. Dana attended Vela Private School in Umtata , the former capital of Transkei, from which she graduated in 1997. She then studied graphic design at Port Elizabeth Technikon and information technology at Wits Technikon in Johannesburg .
In 2002 she moved to Johannesburg, where she first appeared as a singer in smaller clubs at open mic sessions and eventually attracted the attention of music promoters . During the production of her first album she got pregnant and so she dedicated her debut album Zandisile (German: "The one who fulfills her dream") in 2004 to her daughter Zazi. The album reached platinum status in South Africa and made several jazz and world music charts in Europe. She has performed at numerous major music festivals in South Africa, including Arts Alive , the Cape Town International Jazz Festival and the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival . At the South African Music Awards 2005 Zandisile was named “Best Jazz Vocal Album” and Dana was named “Best Newcomer”.
In September 2005, when she was pregnant with her second child, she was in a serious car accident on the way to a gig. As a result, she interrupted her stage work to recover, gave birth to a son, and devoted herself entirely to her family for some time.
A milestone was her guest appearance at a concert by Angélique Kidjo in the Johannesburg Music Hall on July 23, 2006. Audiences and critics welcomed the new singer enthusiastically and some felt reminded of stars of South African music like Miriam Makeba and Dorothy Masuka in their younger years .
In 2006 her second album The One Love Movement On Bantu Biko Street was released , for which she received four awards at the 13th South African Music Awards on April 14, 2007 ("Best Album Of The Year", "Best Female Solo Artist", " Best Contemporary Jazz "," Best Jazz Vocal Album ").
So far, tours have taken Dana twice to Europe, where she performed at the One World Day in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin during the 2006 soccer World Cup and in the AVO Session Basel , and a multi-month tour in 2007 (Germany, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria) concluded on July 10th with an open-air concert as part of the Jazz-Fest- Wien on Rathausplatz .
In the film Themba , which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2010 and received an award, Dana can be seen in a leading role. She plays the mother of the young titular hero who, like her son, is infected with AIDS.
Awards
- Platinum for Zandisile
- South African Music Awards 2005: "Best Jazz Vocal Album" and "Best Newcomer"
- Avo Session Basel 2006: "Arising Star Award"
- South African Music Awards 2007: "Best Album Of The Year", "Best Female Solo Artist", "Best Contemporary Jazz" and "Best Jazz Vocal Album"
Discography
- 2004: Zandisile
- 2006: The One Love Movement On Bantu Biko Street
- 2010: Kulture Noir
- 2014: Firebrand
Compilations
- 2007: South Africa presents: Women with a Voice
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dana, Simphiwe |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | South African singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1980 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Butterworth , Transkei |