Attuned: The album Nomisupasta is preparing to release has been in motion for some time, even if its full shape is only now becoming visible. Photo: Supplied
Halfway through our conversation, Nomsa Mazwai, known by her stage name Nomisupasta, is laughing joyfully recalling her own cheeky and pointed song lyrics.
She’s talking about What You Like, a song that takes aim at political theatre, public performance and the strange expectations we continue to place on democracy and she realises just how much enjoyment she is getting out of pulling those threads apart.
“I love politics and I love satire,” she says. “And so with this song I’m just asking you questions. Is this really what you like?” As in, is this really what you want out of democracy?
This song is just one part of the album she’s preparing to release titled Surrender. It’s a body of work that’s unfolding across music, conversation and public reflection rather than arriving all at once.
Some of its pieces are already familiar. Two singles are out in the world, quietly doing their work. Others are still taking shape. What ties them together is a songwriting process that refuses to separate personal feeling from the broader conditions shaping life in South Africa right now.
“Things are going amazingly,” she tells me, describing an album that will exist both as a vinyl available for purchase on her personal website and on streaming platforms. “So my release of my album is in two forms.”
The album Nomisupasta is preparing to release has been in motion for some time, even if its full shape is only now becoming visible. The first clear signal came with the first single Next Week Tuesday, produced by Mr Porter with additional production from Teeba Forbes, who plays bass and guitar on the track. It was, as she puts it, the moment where things became formal.
Nomisupasta describes the song as a conversation with God, a way of articulating what kind of partnership she is calling into her life. “It’s me telling God exactly what my life partner is like,” she explains. “It’s a song about that Tuesday love, you know, somebody who loves you on a Tuesday.”
She laughs as she unpacks it further, listing moments that feel deliberately unremarkable. Sitting in the park. Watching a movie. Sharing popcorn.
There is also a deeper undercurrent running through the song, one that speaks to imagination.
“It’s basically me describing to God: ‘This is my partner’,” she says. “God will manifest in the way that God chooses to manifest. But at least I would have had my say.”
If Next Week Tuesday marks the beginning of the album’s public life, Njalo Njalo, the second single, sits at a different emotional register. The song features American rapper Rapsody and was produced by Madlib, a collaboration that carries both creative weight and personal meaning for Nomisupasta.
Nomisupasta first came into contact with Rapsody when the producer 9th Wonder sampled her music for three songs on the North Carolina, US rapper’s 2012 debut album The Idea of Beautiful.
The songs sampled music from Nomisupasta’s own debut album, the self-titled Nomisupasta, released in 2010. Last year, the two artists got a chance to collaborate again as Rapsody visited South Africa while Nomisupasta was working on her long-gestating second album.
“It was a great way to reconnect,” Nomisupasta says. “I feel like on this earth there’s people that are your people. And you’re gonna meet them and the minute you are comfortable in who you are, you’re gonna find each other again.”
The upcoming single What You Like looks squarely at the public sphere. The song, which will be released on February 5, is preceded by a six-part podcast of the same name, a space Nomisupasta has created to unpack its lyrics and the political moment they respond to.
The podcast began on January 1, a deliberate decision tied to the timing of a letter written by a government minister the night before, during what she describes as a moment of national chaos.
“The reason why the podcast came out on the 1st of January is because the minister wrote that letter on the 31st,” she explains. “So I wanted it to be fresh in people’s minds. Like guys, do you remember last night? The night of chaos in South Africa.”
In the first episode, she focuses on that letter as a point of entry, unpacking the context in which it was written and the broader political performance surrounding the recently concluded Madlanga Commission.
“I decided … because … during the Madlanga commission and the parliamentary sessions, I started to get a sense that we weren’t looking at what’s really important here,” she says. “So in the first episode of the podcast, I’m really going into the letter that was the catalyst to all of this.”
There is humour in the way she approaches these topics, but also a clear sense of intent. She is not interested in scolding her audience. She wants to provoke reflection, to ask questions that linger.
The podcast runs for six weeks, with a new episode dropping every Thursday. Each installment is designed as a performance appraisal, she says, a way to interrogate both the government and the public and to explore how her lyrics intersect with current events.
“Over the next five weeks I’m talking about the commission but in the context of a South African,” she says. “There are things that we’re watching happen globally that are insane. I’ll touch on that. But at the core of it is a recap of what we saw at the commission last year and at the parliamentary sessions and what I like to describe as a performance appraisal.”
Nomisupasta approaches politics through her music not as lecture but as provocation. She layers humour and rhythm over critique, creating spaces where reflection and entertainment coexist. What You Like moves through the absurdities of power, the blind spots of privilege and the strange normalisation of corruption, all while maintaining a beat that encourages movement rather than mere contemplation.
“It’s just so funny,” she says of the song. “I don’t want it to be like reprimanding you. Shame on you. No. You can have a fun vibe, you know. You can be entertained and still be thinking about it.”
She collaborated with Robin Fassie on What You Like and describes his trumpet as a kind of conscience within the song. “You’re like, oh my goodness. It’s got a great beat. Ph Raw X did the things nice. And then Robin Fassie, that trumpet. It’s like the feeling of it.”
On April 26, Freedom Day weekend, Nomisupasta will perform the entire album for the first time at the first edition of Sober Fest, a festival she has founded, taking place at Soweto Theatre.
The festival is built around her vision of celebrating life without alcohol, creating a space for music, comedy, craft food and family engagement. The Soweto Theatre, she says, is perfect for this vision: accessible, spacious and welcoming.
“Sober Fest is a festival that celebrates health and lifestyle,” she explains. “It has comedy, it has music, it has stalls, craft food. So you can celebrate and enjoy all of the natural highs in the world.”
“It’s very family-oriented. So you come with your kids and there’s a nice kids area and you sign them in and you sign them out,” she says. “It’s like a nice experience for the whole family.”
The festival’s lineup reflects her curatorial instincts, blending established performers, comedians, local talent and DJs. Khanyisa Bunu and Brra Thabiso, she says, have already been confirmed, with others to be announced soon. Early-bird tickets will be available until the end of January, giving audiences time to secure spots before the album itself is released.
Before the festival, the album will become available on Nomisupasta’s online store, Ewe Kunjalo, a space she created as part of a wider initiative to support women entrepreneurs. The website hosts her album on vinyl, digital downloads, merchandise and even her previously published book.
“Basically, it’s a shop. It’s called Elevate Women Everywhere. I made it a brand. And ‘Ewe Kunjalo’ just means ‘Yes, indeed’,” she explains. “It’s got accessories. It’s got merch. I wrote a book once so it’s got my book there. So this is where the album will be.”
Her approach to releasing music mirrors her approach to broader life: considered, intentional and attuned to context. She doesn’t rush projects simply to meet commercial expectations. She wants each song to breathe, each lyric to resonate.
The podcasts, the visual work, the festival; each element serves as an extension of the album itself, a way for listeners and participants to inhabit her world fully.
Surrender promises to be a lived experience captured sonically, a reflection of an artist thinking critically about her place in the world, and the place her work occupies in the lives of those who will hear it.
With each note, each lyric, each collaboration, she maps a path between private desire and public consciousness, inviting her audience to follow along.