Queen Sono (Netflix)
Created by Kagiso Lediga and Tamsin Andersson’s production house, Diprente, Queen Sono has trumped over Gareth Crocker’s Shadow in being dubbed the first African Netflix original series.
Queen Sono tells the story of a South African secret agent who spends her days looking to avenge the assasination of her freedom-fighting mother while protecting African citizens from the underworld of terrorism, Western pillage and corruption.
Earlier this week I spent the morning with Queen Sono cast members: Pearl Thusi, Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa, Khathutshelo Ramabulana, Chi Mhende and Sechaba Morojele.
It’s a given that the soundtrack exists to elevate moments in the Queen Sono series. However while listening to it without the influence of the plot, the soundtrack sums up the continental synergy that Lediga and Andersson looked to created by making Queen Sono.
Speaking on the weight of the series, Zimbabwean actress Chi Mhende, who plays Miriam in Queen Sono, says her time on set was the first time that she got to live out the idea of an Africa free of borders. “I have never known, and I’m so sorry to the people that I worked with before, someone who has held me the way that Kagiso has. No one has created a space like, and been such a great leader, in the way that Tamsin has,” said Mhende.
Together with songs to look out for in the series, I asked the cast to make additions to the playlist I have compiled by asking them for songs that encapsulate their experience on the Queen Sono set.
Give it a listen before you decide to binge on the action drama.
Netflix drops Queen Sono on 28 February 2020. For more information visit Netflix