Read my Lips

Singer Thabilé has just released her latest album Read My Lips when she is presented with the Africa Festival Award (AFA). The award honors her for her commitment to using her music to draw attention to the problems of oppressed South African women, among other things.

Thabilé knows what she is singing about. She knows first-hand the suffering and misery, but also the unbridled joy of life in South Africa. She grew up in Dlamini, a township in Soweto (after which her first album "Dlamini Echo" is named). She doesn't know much about her father and grew up with her mother, grandmother and aunt. Her mother, herself a singer with the well-known "Soweto Teachers Choir" and often on tour, encouraged her daughter to attend the school and gospel choir at the tender age of eight - and thus instilled a love of music in Thabilé at an early age.

Today, Thabilé lives in Stuttgart and campaigns for better coexistence, especially for women's rights. Her songs tell of difficult living conditions and the fight against injustice in South Africa, but are also considered statements against all kinds of injustice in the world. As can be heard on the new album "Read my Lips". Thabilé's long-standing commitment to visiting children at German schools and educating them about prejudices also fits in perfectly with this.

The likeable singer has now rightly been named "Artist of the Year 2023" at the African Festival Award (AFA) in Würzburg. "I feel very honored," says Thabilé. "The award confirms that I'm on the right track. And it encourages me to keep going. I feel the power of music and want to lend my voice to those people who have to suffer a lot and would otherwise not be heard. I feel the joy and freedom in music, but also the responsibility."

There is no better way to describe the new album "Read My Lips" than with the last sentence. In it, Thabilé dives back into the world of her memories and experiences, which can be painful. But - as the laudatory speech at the award ceremony also states - "she not only puts her finger in the wound, but also manages to encourage and convey hope with her enchanting manner and powerful, magical voice ..."

Thabilé's songs have never been pure "world music", but have always been a high-class mix of different genres such as Afro, gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues. On the new album, Thabilé and her producer (and guitarist) Steve Bimamisa have now gone one step further musically. "Read My Lips" also offers sparkling, polished soul songs and catchy pop ballads. In addition, Thabilé's unmistakable voice - sometimes rocky and rough, sometimes soft and gentle. An album to listen to and empathize with, but also to sing and dance along to. Just as many fans know it from
Thabilé concerts.