Namakau Star is not only a rising musician, she has become a mentor – along with her label Paradise Sound System, she has hosted workshops, given public talks and is intrinsically focused on the notions of artist development. It’s not surprising that Namakau owes her understanding of the power of a profound teacher, saying that “I had a teacher, Ms. Oswald, who encouraged me to step forward and sing louder. I think her role in my creative career is really fundamental, and she helped me develop the confidence as a shy, quirky person into someone who could share openly through music.” Music was not something Namakau set out to do until her university years; it always just was – part of her life and story, “back then, music was this really fun and beautiful thing – it was friends downloading beats for me to sing on, or me figuring out harmonies and remixes across a wide range of genres and styles. I think those years laid the foundation for me to pursue music as a career, knowing that I always return to the pure love for it. Back then, I was studying artists like Frank Ocean and trying to figure his mind and thinking, how he wrote the way he did – I think my curiosity for learning is also why music education is so important to me alongside my career.”
Although nudged towards a career involving practicality and security by her parents (as so many creative people are), Namakau staved them off with plans to at least do something centred in the humanities – whether it be psychology or advertising, and so on. During her gap year, Namakau met up with an old friend who encouraged her to release two songs she had recorded onto SoundCloud – as she says, “I couldn’t believe it when 400 people listened to one of the songs, I was like – woah, that many people listened to my songs?” As Namakau explains, losing her mom during her university years – all the while the decolonial Rhodes Must Fall movement was taking place – she found herself with her back against the wall, unsupported in how to make a difference to her own life or the lives of others around her. This pain is part of Namakau’s alchemy into who she is today; as a musician and a mentor, someone who has committed her life’s work through music to bringing about change and opportunity for South Africa’s youth, aspiring to bring music as a pathway that is sustaining, secure and magical. As Namakau says, “I was really helpless during that time. I didn’t have the energy or motivation, so I dropped out of university. I realised that music was the one thing that had remained a constant in my life and I told myself, I had to pursue my music career – since then I haven’t looked back.”
Namakau Star as an artistic character or expression is constantly evolving. Weaving together cosmic musings, Afro-futurism and neo-soul, Namakau stands in the realm of Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Jhené Aiko as Black women whose sonic ability holds a kind of medical quality. Namakau says, “being a Black, queer woman in this world has always shaped my writing whether I knew it or not. I’ve always found myself representing something because my music documents my lived experience. I have always been a very reflective person and that depth has been something that has always been part of the way I’ve expressed myself. Spirituality informs a lot of my writing because I believe we are spiritual beings experiencing a physical world. I let my voice be my compass in how I need to be present and honest in letting music pass through my body.”
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