Rorisang Sechele
At the start of this year, 25-year-old musician Rorisang Sechele released her first music video for the song Tsoga (Setswana for “wake up”). In it, she plays a young singer nervously stepping onto the stage for the first time. Hands gripping the microphone, voice unsteady, she manages only a few words before fear overtakes her. Defeated, she gives in to her nerves and bolts offstage.
Back in her room, she buries herself in the bed, doom-scrolling through merciless online comments. But the self-pity doesn’t last long. Something inside her stirs. She gets up, stares at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Suddenly, staring back at her is a young girl. A younger version of herself.
The child steps out of the mirror and into the world, full of life, unburdened by doubt. Together, they run, play and laugh in open fields, reconnecting with a sense of joy that had been buried under fear.
It’s this reconnection with her inner child that gives her the courage to return to the stage. This time, she sings with conviction, her voice sure and soaring. In the audience, the little girl watches proudly.
More than just an introduction to the world, the video serves as a mission statement for Sechele, both in sound and spirit. Tsoga is a call to awaken, to reclaim oneself, to rise.
“The song was a wake-up call to myself,” she shares. “I was not okay, mentally or emotionally, and I realised that the more I sat in that darkness, the more I was keeping myself there.” The song’s chorus carries a powerful message: “Ga se goo lobelo, goo marapo a thata” — it’s not about speed, it’s about endurance.
Writing Tsoga was also a personal milestone, as was only the second time she had written in Setswana, a language she has often felt insecure about using in her songwriting.
“As a child, I spoke it freely without worrying about my accent or correctness. That childlike freedom is something I wanted to reconnect with,” Sechele says.
The song’s visual and conceptual direction further underscores this theme. “The only person who can truly help you out of that darkness is your inner child. Are you making your younger self proud? Are you still in touch with the joy you once had?” she reflects.
Today (7 February) marks the arrival of Sechele’s debut EP In Full Bloom — The Seed, a project that signals the start of a deeply personal and conceptual trilogy. While Tsoga does not appear on the EP, Sechele hints that it might feature on the second instalment of the trilogy, possibly with a fresh interpretation.
An accomplished vocalist, songwriter, and performer, Sechele’s journey through music has been lifelong. From her early days in the Jacaranda Children’s Choir to her classical training at Pro Arte Alphen Park Performing and Creative Arts High School in Pretoria and later her jazz and popular music studies at Tshwane University of Technology, where she graduated cum laude in 2020, her artistic foundation has been rich and diverse.
Sechele’s resume is as impressive as it is varied. She was selected for the prestigious Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band in 2021 under the mentorship of renowned jazz musician Nduduzo Makhathini. She has shared the stage with the likes of Lisette Spinnler, Nthabiseng Motsepe and Zenzi Makeba-Lee. As part of The Anchored Quartet, conducted by Ofentse Pitse, she has collaborated with celebrated artists including Sun-El Musician, Simmy, Msaki, and Ami Faku.
Recently, she was a recipient of the Digital Mobility Fund 5, supported by the Southern African Music Rights Organisation and the Norwegian Embassy, which enabled her to stage a sold-out performance in the Jazz in Jozi series. In 2023, she was part of the Youth Expressions Festival at The South African State Theatre in Pretoria.
Now she’s ready for the release of her debut album. In Full Bloom — The Seed is more than just a debut EP — it is the beginning of a grander vision.
“The full project, as a whole, is In Full Bloom and that’s basically a celebration of coming of age,” Sechele explains. “I’m at a point in my life where I finally understand who Rorisang is — not just as a musician, but as an adult.”
The trilogy follows a thematic arc inspired by the growth cycle of a flower. The Seed, as the title suggests, represents the uncertain and formative stages of this journey.
“When you plant a seed, you’re never really sure if it’s going to grow. It’s a dark, uncomfortable place, but you have to keep watering it, keep nurturing it, and trust the process,” she says. “Even in the darkness, even in the uncertainty, there’s value in that stage because it’s necessary for what comes next.”
Through this trilogy, she aims to challenge the notion that she is a “late bloomer”. “We’re all in the same garden but I’m an orchid and you might be a rose. Who’s to say I’m blooming too late? We all grow in our own time,” she muses.
A crucial figure in Sechele’s artistic development is Nduduzo Makhathini, under whose guidance she was selected for the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band. “He’s been such an important mentor to me,” she says. “He taught me that music is more than just sound, it’s an entire philosophy, a way of seeing the world.”
Makhathini’s guidance, support and wisdom have had a lasting impact on both Sechele’s work and her perspective.
“I think it’s so beautiful because he’s definitely a person who’s shifted or changed my perspective on people in the music industry. I’m so used to — as musicians and creatives, we’re so used to — experiencing, like, gatekeepers and people who are keeping information to themselves and they just don’t want to let newbies in.
“So it’s refreshing to have someone like him who’s like, ‘I will hold your hand if you need help. Like, I’m a call away. I’m a text away. If these people are not answering, Rorisang, let me know. I will call them and be like, Hey, what’s happening?’
“So, yeah. And also just seeing him balance academia and performance for me is just like, yes, it’s possible for you to pursue studies in music and still do well as a performer.”
For Sechele, music is ultimately about how it makes people feel: “I want my music to make you feel like you’re coming home and someone is giving you a hug,” she says. Because even with the people that I listen to that have influenced my music, that’s how I always felt. So I always want to give that out.
“But, more than anything, with the seed itself, I think I really want it to highlight the importance of sitting in the ugly. Like, being in a place of discomfort and being in a place that seems ugly to you, like, it’s okay to be there, embrace it. Because once you are out of that place, you will look back and be like, okay, it makes sense.”
With In Full Bloom — The Seed, Sechele has planted the roots of what promises to be a deeply resonant and transformative musical journey. And as her sound continues to grow, so too will her audience, each finding their own meaning in the music she so carefully cultivates.
“The amazing pianist Yonela Mnana once told me: ‘You won’t appreciate light without experiencing darkness. You don’t appreciate being clean if you haven’t spent some time being dirty.’ And I think that’s what the seed is. It’s just making people aware that, hey, the seed part of life is not always nice and comfortable, but once you experience the bloom, you will appreciate the seed even more.”