IQHAWE MAGAZINE ISSUE NO.6

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EDITOR’S LETTER I found myself reading through all my past letters in the last 5 months and it dawned upon me that they were actually public diary entries which are also somewhat aimed at things that I seem to be going through while I try to negotiate my way past this being alive thing. So this month I want to talk about dreams. I had a conversation with someone a few weeks ago; they were telling me that they were contemplating leaving their secure 9-5 to pursue a long-time passion, and my immediate response was okay! I hear you but how are you going to survive, how will you pay rent, take care of yourself, people are being retrenched, have you checked the state of our economy lately? It’s hard to find work these days, I really do not think it is a good idea. And their response was surprising to me because they were completely unbothered everything I had just mentioned. The only thing that mattered was not spending another day in an office cube that feels like your soul is being drained out of your body every single day. The need to pursue their dream/passion is so strong that everything I had just pointed out did not seem significant. What mattered was waking up every day to do something you care about, something that doesn’t serve anyone else but you. Disclaimer!

I am not in any way promoting that people leave their jobs for things that are not stable, trust me I am well aware of how hard this life thing can get. But what I am saying is that I think it of utter importance that we at least try to do justice to our dreams and our purpose. We fetch our lives, we do whatever is in our power to reach for what we desire, I know I sound like a motivational speaker but we live in a time where we spend so much time watching people live out our dreams while we stand in the sidelines with bitter hearts dying slowly. But I am no poet, think Langston Hughes does a better job articulating the thought in his poem titled What happens to a dream deferred? I included the poem below, please read it twice.

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What happens to a dream deferred? - Langston Hughes “Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore-And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?”

We have rebranded please let us know what you think about our content and new look, drop us an email at iqhawemag@gmail.com or side into our dms @iqhawemagazine Till next month Folks 4

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRETTY RENAE MANGENA Iqhawe Team

Designs and Illustrations

Koketso Maluleka

Photography

Morena Pheleu

Brands

The Fabric Era

Features

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Lethabo Motlalepule Phora Sikelelwa Vuyeleni Nomonde Precious Mbele Prudence Qwesha

Zana “The Ndebele Superhero” Masombuka So-Bae Thula Ndema Thato Mbongeni Masondo Alex Sono Ayanda Mabhulu

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IQHAWEMAG@GMAIL.COM

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CONTENTS

24 IQHAWE COVER: SOBAE

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CREATIVE OF THE MONTH Zana ‘Ndebele Superhero’ Masombuka

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BRANDS Fabric Era

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FEATURE The history of Art Fairs

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FEATURE Deaf Culture

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IQHAWE PLUG African Literature

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MUSIC FEATURE Alex Sono

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FEATURE Ayanda Mabhulu

FEATURE Underline Art Fair X FNB Art Fair

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CREATIVE OF THE MONTH

‘NDEBELE SUPERHERO’ ISSUE 6

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ana ‘Ndebele Superhero’ Masombuka is a 24 year-old Johannesburg based creative director who draws inspiration from her upbringing in rural KwaNdebele, in a small town called Siyabuswa.

She is an International Studies graduate from Stellenbosch University, where she learnt the art of critical thinking, as well as the importance of globalization and how it continues to impact Africa. Her art speaks to Africa’s active role in the next wave of this global phenomena and how African artists aim to pioneer the stories being written about their continent and its people, which is fundamental to the preservation of its heritage.

In “The Re-Invention of Africa: Edward Said, V.Y Mudimbe and Beyond” Mazrui states that Africans need to interpret their history themselves and seek to reinvent Africa in their own terms.

Therefore, “Ndebele Superhero” is a platform that has allowed her to speak of the stories of the past, present and the re-imagination of the future of her people. In addition to that, she believes that the better half of this century values the importance of representation and for people to tell their own stories. Hence, her work aims to highlight evolutionary process of culture, particularly the Ndebele culture, and how it emulates human behavioural patterns as well the various environments that influence its formulation. She argues that, due to the fact that the world remakes itself every 100 years, it is pivotal for Africans to be aware of this fact and discover ways on how they can steer the tide in their favour, which will result in the overall upliftment of its people. Furthermore, every century has collectively belonged to a continent, dating back to the golden era in Asia, when gunpowder was discovered, and the undocumented times before then. Therefore, there is no better time than now for Africa.

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The overarching theme of her work explores the convergence of the human experience with the modern world and how that impacts culture and tradition; especially in Africa. She does this by engaging with themes such as identity, time, conflict and adversity, capitalism, the conversion of man and technology. She takes it further by exploring the inner world that exists within all of us, better known as our intuition, and challenges her audience to look within themselves for the road to who they really are. She argues that human beings do not only consist of the physical, but that we are metaphysical beings too; and that looking at humans holistically helps us better understand our experience. Within this context, she strongly believes that the liberation of Africans depends in the recognition of this very inner world. The aesthetic of the work is inspired by the emotive and vibrancy of the Ndebele people as well as the Ndebele culture. It is deep rooted in the recreation of the African identity, with a focus on the Ndebele culture, and how Africans from all industries are paving the way for themselves as well as future generations. With this said, she reinforces the importance of art historically and how it formulates as part of the building blocks of any society. Ultimately, the work of Zana “Ndebele Superhero” Masombuka is the culmination of two parallel worlds, the West and Africa, indigenous cultures and modernity, as well as the outside world and the internal world of the individual.

Zana Masombuka has showcased her work with the Julie Miller Art Institute for their Winter Art Collective’18 and the Spring Art Collective’18 exhibitions; as well at the J&B Hive Braamfontein, as a part of the “Friends Of King Zimela” exhibition in 2018.

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BRANDS IQHAWE

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FABRICK ERA

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pho Manare who is Head of Administration is also co-founder of The Fabric Era. His initial concept behind The Fabric Era was inspired by BoyznBucks.

He wanted to create a movement that was going to challenge the status quo in Lesotho and fashion was the natural way. He called on(an aquantance) Thoko who is now Marketing Strategist who then called on Natan(former highschool mate)who is now Collaboration Curator and they expanded the whole concept into what it is today. It has become challenging to define the Fabric Era in just one sentence. But the simplest way to define TheFabricEra is; a collective of multidisciplinary artists changing the way people see Lesotho through style and fashion while exploring different dimensions of fashion as well.

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COVER IQHAWE

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SOBAE FROZEN SORBETS

Interview by Sikelelwa Vuyeleni From good friends to couple to business partners, Thula and Thato have been at it for a good 7 years. A couple in a rare business venture of frozen sorbets who saw ripe fruits being wasted and saw an opportunity to make something greater from those by making an alternative healthy dessert. We had a chat with them…..

IQHAWE: How did you see this vision coming to life? Did the experience of having worked in an ice cream store influence the beginning of the journey?

SOBAE: The vision came to life by us existing.

We first envisioned a clothing line, we wanted something that says this is us and our unity is strong. We did more research to find what problem we could solve- we love exploring the city of Johannesburg so that’s where we started. We saw that street vendors and the city market sell fruits and vegetables and once they go ripe they are thrown out into the street. And yes, working in an ice cream store and talking to people opened up our eyes to a gap in the market.

IQHAWE: As young black newly business people, how has the support from your immediate circles been- your family and friends?

SOBAE: As a new business we do need support, more volunteers and family buying and working with us. When we were conceptualizing SOBAE it was not tangible to our friends and family, we wanted to prove to ourselves for the first year that this was a sustainable business. The communities started contributing fruits and herbs from their gardens to our business. Our family and friends are now volunteering and we are receiving grants from international and local NGOs, NPOs and some government organizations. The support is growing and we could not be more grateful.

IQHAWE: From the inception of the idea to where you are now, what has kept you up and running, both as a business and as a couple?

SOBAE: The business was established in spring 2017 and now we are celebrating 2 years this spring 2019. Our customers, community and NGOs have helped us keep our business up and running. We have had to understand the importance of working together and being patient with each other.

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IQHAWE: How do you balance “business and pleasure”?

SOBAE: For the business to go well we both need to be pleasured emotionally, physically and spiritually. And we balance it all through communication.

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‘For the business to go well we both need to be pleasured emotionally, physically and spiritually.’

when it’s cold. We also switch up our menu when it’s colder by introducing juices and more to come in the future.

IQHAWE: What should your customers expect to experience when tasting SOBAE FROZEN? SOBAE: To experience a taste of real fruit, nostalgic moments, to taste unique South African flavours with rich smooth natural textures. An experience of in-season fruits, veggies and exotic flavor combinations infused with spices and herbs. And mostly experience the LOVE. IQHAWE: So, you are selling sorbets and your business is called SOBAE, please entice us with the story behind choosing that name?

SOBAE: We were already in a relationship when we started the business and after we tasted the first batch we made, it was just SO BAE! IQHAWE: From selling on the various streets of Jozi to having residency at Victoria Yards, where can we find you next?

SOBAE: We are happy to announce that we have a website you can check us out on www.sobae.co.za.

That’s where you can find where we are next.

IQHAWE: Considering your product is frozen and it is usually associated with warmer seasons, how have you managed to make it a 365 thing?

SOBAE: Food consumption, food waste, illegal dumping – those are all 365. And fruits and vegetables are 365 things. SOBAE works with nature, seasonally and “ice cream” is a culture IQHAWE

IQHAWE: Lastly, what advice would you give any partnership going into business, especially a romantic one?

SOBAE: To give each other chances, to be yourself and be a communicator. Remember to not slack on the romance.

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FEATURE IQHAWE

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Interview by

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YANDA MABHULU

Pretty Renae Mangena

ALWAYS LIVING

I walk into the Space Mecca Studios, and the first step I take into the space I am in awe of the beautiful, majestic paintings of black women that are on the wall. They all stand out as though they are meant for my eyes to consume.

When I go finally get to do the interview I sit opposite Ayanda with an explosion of thought. And as I ask my first question he insists on playing Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues as we do the interview and says the song articulates his reality. I think this is one of the most interesting interviews I have ever held and one which I will certainly cherish forever.

‘My art will remain in the heads and hearts of our people.’

IQHAWE: What does your everyday life look like?

AYANDA: My life is of a stone-hard, black melanated genius, a rolling stone of our time never-ending never stagnant always living. That my life. My everyday life is the everyday life of every marginalized Black man, woman, and child in every street corner. My life is of a hustler, my life is ghetto, my life is a gangster. Not because of the negative connotations of gangster, where the wealth of a gangster is not defined by how much he has but how much he can share either spiritually, physically and beyond. And that how we tap into the spirit of foreverness that is just us. It’s a constant inner city blues type of life, it’s a spirited type of life. I feel every inch of the pain of whoever is becoming a victim of life, either through rape, being mugged or shot because of the colour of their skin and gender. I die with all of them and raise with them in the world of foreversleep.

IQHAWE: Why is the representation of Black women so important for you?

AYANDA: Amid the hardship and the everyday devouring life that we live, we get to find out it is so surreal there because we are dealing with surreal eyes that are cutting and chopping us into pieces and chopping the women’s body into pieces. But the world becomes too cold that we would like to go back to where we belong. And if you look at heaven we find out that God in heaven is painted white and we are told every day that angels are white. So where else do we go, to go back to where we come from. So I would IQHAWE

be glad if my mom were to shallow me back into her womb. So I constantly paint these images of them, for I see her layers in every one if you. And that’s the only way I can bring back her spirit, and in each and everything piece that I do, I find myself one with her. For I will paint them these South African women, these African women so 34

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that all the fatherless and motherless children can have a parent in my work and a place to reside.

So they can understand that warmth is out there in every mother out there. The women that I paint in my work will forever stay there as a matriarch, powerful, energetic, beautiful, godly for there is no dick that can rape her.

will the better village boy or girl. I want to invest in the spiritually, in your mind becomes a space where these works will hang forever. So we have the black spirited, walking, living and breathing museums. So when you see that walk you must know that you own.

IQHAWE: What are you doing to ensure that your art reaches spaces young black people outside of the elitist art space it currently exists?

AYANDA: In the spaces where these artworks are exhibited, art galleries, art fairs those spaces became nothing else but an abattoir for our art.

Where they hang on those walls like crucified pieces of meat hanging to be eaten by flies coming out of each and everyone’s eyes to take the life out of these artworks and take it away.

It’s beautiful because we have the sun and we have gods in every one of you that when we see that work it’s not only the son or the daughter in the village that will benefit, but it is your genes that will be inspired positively and changed.

So that the baby that will be born out of you futuristically will become a new version of a black woman or a new version of a black child boy or girl. Because these works are meant to be exhibited in your mind so it transforms you and affects you positively which changes you through your genes and the child born our of you

IQHAWE: What do you want people to say about you when you have passed on? What story do you want to leave behind?

AYANDA: I want them to forget about me. I want up to die and have everyone carry me to the next life of forever sleep. I want to die and have everyone who is poor in every street and a victim of a situation and the system to come and eat when I am dead. Slaughter a cow, and apologize to it and ask it to carry me to the next life of forever sleep. Roll me inside its skin and burry me underground. Plaint an orange seed in my body to feed on me, turn me into manure, let the tree grow, let everyone sit under that tree and enjoy the shade, and in winter let them enjoy an orange and in that way, I am benefiting to the society and the community. It is not about me, everything I have created is about the people. It’s not about me, I don’t want to be remembered. I just want to be known, that I am the father to Azania and Zion and husband to my wife and nothing else. My art will remain in the heads and hearts of our people.

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TRAVEL FEATURE IQHAWE

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AN ART FAIR AFFAIR UNDERLINE ART FAIR

all parts of the country and making the place their creative home. So when I got the opportunity to cover both the FNB Art Fair and the Underline Art fair which all took place on the same weekend I simply could not contain the excitement. I walked into the spaces and could help but think about the accessibility politics that surround both these art fairs. I thought about the history of art fairs in South Africa particularly as it relates to minority groups of people. The beautiful painting and artworks that were representative of their lived experiences and different social-economical factors yet were not present to see themselves represented.

But besides the politics, both fairs stood in their own right, each speaking its own visual language and intent its and overall purpose.

The Underline Art fair is an all femaleowned fair which announced its presence in the Johannesburg art space in a spectacular manner, the fair found a perfect balance between the experimental, the new and the avant-garde which came from both emerging artists and established ones. The art pieces from independent curators spoke to themes such as womanhood, religion, the notion of being within one’s identity and how it relates to the spaces we occupy. The incorporated film screenings and performances gave the fair a unique experience and interesting use of the space itself.

Curators such as Christa Dee and Fhulufhelo Mobadi exhibited work by black female artists such as Lunga Ntila, Zana Masombuka, and Nonzuzo Gxekwa. The work heavily concerns

X THE FNB ART FAIR

ARTICLE BY PRETTY RENAE MANGENA

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n my 22 years of life, I had never attended an art fair, my first fair was the Underline Art Fair a few weeks ago. I grew up in Johannesburg, and I have practically lived here my entire life. I went to a high school in the city and currently attend university here. Johannesburg is one of Africa’s Art hubs, with new galleries opening up and emerging artists coming up from

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itself with the different understandings of Black South African women and the different notions of identity and black female representation. The fair is definitely bringing a new perspective into the art scene through its new forms of representation.

The FNB Art fair, on the other hand, brought with it years of experience merged it with a new look, new management and a new way of understanding how we have come to know the fair previously.

Galleries all over the content had brought in their best artists to showcase at the fair. The variety in the works brought by the different galleries spoke to the new approach which the fair has taken and its comparability to complete on a global scale. The artworks from the different galleries seemed to strike a perfect stance in including both emerging artists and established ones.

The fair also brought with it an amazing way of telling African stories and representing Africa in a way that is urban while incorporating critical issues still facing the country and the continent within the Art industry. While providing a broader context which gave the fair an interesting contextual basis and stance as a centre for African creative arts.

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GALLERY UNDERLINE ART FAIR

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GALLERY FNB ART FAIR

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INFO FEATURE

J THE HISTORY OF ART FAIRS

oburg Art Fair is a contemporary art fair held annually in Johannesburg, South Africa. The first show took place from 13 to 16 March 2008. The Joburg Art Fair which is sponsored

by First National Bank aims to address the gap between prices attained by living African artists behind those from developed countries and Asian emerging markets. FNB aims to bring contemporary art to a broader, upper-income local market, including black business people with newfound wealth.

The 2008 event, which was the first of its kind in Africa, including 22 galleries from Africa, Europe, and North America, showing work by contemporary, predominantly African, artists. The first Joburg Art Fair was held in the Sandton Convention Centre and covered a total area of 5000 square meters.

The fair represented the single largest collection of African and South African contemporary art for sale thus far. The fair included notable African artists including Zwelethu Mthethwa, William Kentridge, Guy Tillim, David Goldblatt, Peter Hugo, Minnette Vári and Moshekwa Langa.

In recent times, the art market has witnessed a revolution in the way works are purchased. In just one decade, the number of international fairs has jumped from 10 to 60, which means that the classic art market model based on transactions in galleries is increasingly governed by the economic model of art fairs. International fairs act as a crucial platform for galleries and artists to make their presence known, sell their works and forge links with the art industry’s major players, which they may not have been able to engage with otherwise. They also offer a practical means for art critics, collectors, curators, museum directors and enthusiasts to come into direct contact and have access to a wide range of works from around the world gathered under one roof all in one shot, which is particularly useful in a market that’s now globalized and where people are increasingly rushed and want to see a maximum number of works in a minimum amount of time.

Furthermore, this new model pushes communities with similar interests to exchange ideas more freely and is instrumental in transforming the host city into a global destination for art.

The art market’s change of model and structure is not always positive for everyone. The huge number of new art fairs is definitely an asset for the

Article by Lethabo Motlalepule Phora

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market generally, but their success may come at the expense of business in galleries. Additionally, this new model based on art fairs can also be disadvantageous for young galleries and emerging artists, as fairs are known to be selective when picking exhibitors, meaning that little-known artists are often overlooked in favour of more recognized ones. Lastly, many fairs have emerged in countries where the art market is less developed. This leads us to question if these newcomers can compete effectively with their well-known counterparts, particularly with regards to their ability to attract international audiences.

We have seen strong growth with the internationalization of art and the art world, which can be explained partly because of better communication, especially with the Internet, and falling prices of air travel. In fact, since the birth of the Internet, people no longer need to take the time to visit their local galleries; many prefer to browse artworks online, not only for convenience but because the Internet provides a wider selection of works that interest them. Also, they can now check information and prices online immediately while purchasing at an art fair. Combined with the ease of international travel, this means that some people favour going directly to visit a fair that will present a larger choice of art pieces.

Furthermore, fairs and the satellite artistic events that pop up around them have become vital to the art world’s social scene. Fairs propose precious networking opportunities that a local gallery would not be able to provide within the context of the market’s accelerated globalization. In the end, art fairs have also become prevalent as they benefit the local economies of their host cities. They not only attract tourists but also work together with festivals and museum exhibitions, which are huge money-spinners themselves.

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INFO FEATURE

DEAF CULTURE AND ITS EXISTENCE ARTICLE BY LETHABO MOTLALEPULE PHORA

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eptember is the International Month for Deaf People in commemoration of the first World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf which took place on September 1951. The Deaf Federation of South Africa (DeafSA) and the South African National Deaf Association (SANDA) both promote awareness of the rights of Deaf persons in South Africa.

Art has always been a way to show how an artist sees the world, and it can take many different forms – some people paint or sculpt, while others use performance to convey a message. Art is a personal experience that anyone at any skill level can use to express themselves, so it comes as no surprise that the Deaf and hard of hearing are active participants in the art world. Some Deaf artists share their perspective of the world, focusing on their deafness, while others create for any number of reasons. The same is true for any artist: one may

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focus on one aspect of life that is very important to them, but they have the option to create content about any subject they want to.

A manifesto exists specifically for Deaf Culture Art, called the De’ VIA Manifesto, or Deaf View/ Image Art. Deaf artists who create work that specifically refers to Deaf Culture can be considered De’VIA artists. A notable contemporary artist of this sort is Christine Sun Kim, who has drawn a connection between American Sign Language and music – quite literally! De ’VIA has helped to introduce the Deaf experience to the artistic world and give a new platform to the deaf community.

Deaf artists have been around for centuries, though they often do not get the recognition they deserve. For example, the “first deaf person in history known by name,” Quintus Pedius, was a talented Roman painter in the 1st century AD (Harrington, 2006). Another notable example 48

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is Juan Fernández Navarrete, also known as “El Mudo,” or “The Mute.” Navarrete was a deaf Spanish painter who used art at an early age to express his needs (Lang, 1995). Francisco Goya, a highly successful and influential modern painter in the 18th century was left deaf after an illness in 1792, which had an impact on his artistic style of painting. Often time’s information such as this is not discussed in art history courses, but it’s clear that it affects the artist and their work.

In more recent times, forms of animation have become popular, both traditional 2D as well as 3D. One might wonder if the Deaf are involved in this category, and the answer is of course they are!

Some notable examples of Deaf animators include Mark Fisher (first successful Deaf animator), Gino Giudice (worked on Flintstones), and Michael Freeman (3D animator). Many Deaf animators use animation to create entertainment for other deaf people by animating characters using ASL. Contemporary Deaf artists not only work in animation but in all other forms of art as well.

Chuck Baird, one of the founders of De’VIA, was a painter, actor, and sculptor (Murad, 2012). Tracey Salaway, specializing in digital arts and filmmaking, has been “a professor at Gallaudet University Art Department since 1997” (Salaway, 2010) as well as a South African Artist, Tommy Motswai’s whose work is crammed with bustling activity, of people going about their business, laughing, talking and shouting. Cars and trains rush past, but Motswai hears none of this. It’s clear that the range of Deaf artists stretches far and wide, and covers a variety of mediums as well as messages.

While numerous Deaf artists exist, they often are not well-known in the general art world, which is unfortunate because they are contributing to the world and have things to say that are just as important as any other artist’s message. Deaf artists in history are only recently gaining recognition for their work, and while it’s a step in the right direction, there is still much to be done by way of appreciating the Deaf and their contributions, artistic or otherwise.

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BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ September is South Africa’s literacy month and we found you a few must-reads! All these books are by black authors and are to empower the black mind and narrative. They may be uncomfortable but change isn’t comfortable either. Do enjoy!

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INDABA MY CHILDREN! – Credo Mutwa As a young man, Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, a Zulu from the South African province of Natal, was determined to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and become a tribal historian in order to keep the rich oral tradition of his culture alive.

In this book, begun in response to the injustices against Africans and their culture, he sets these legends down in writing. Indaba, My Children is a classic and indispensable resource for anyone interested in the cultural life of Africa and the human experience as it is filtered into myth.

DECOLONIZING THE MIND – Ngugi Wa Thiong’o Decolonizing the Mind by Kenyan novelist and post-colonial theorist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, is a collection of essays about language and its constructive role in national culture, history, and identity. The book, which advocates linguistic decolonization, is one of Ngũgĩ’s best-known and most-cited non-fiction publications, helping to cement him as a preeminent voice theorizing the “language debate” in post-colonial studies.

The book offers a distinctly anti-imperialist perspective on the “continuing debate...about the destiny of Africa” and language’s role in both combating and perpetrating imperialism and the conditions of neo-colonialism in African nations.

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BLACK MAN OF the NILE AND HIS FAMILY – Yosef A.A. Ben-Jochannan Black Man of the Nile and His Family, first published in 1972, is Dr. Ben’s best-known work. It captures much of the substance of his early research on ancient Africa. In a masterful and unique manner, Dr. Ben uses Black Man of the Nile and His Family to challenge and expose «Europeanized» African History. He points up the distortion after distortion made in the long record of African contributions to world civilization. Once exposed, he attacks these distortions with a vengeance, providing a spellbinding corrective lesson in our story.

THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTH – Frantz Fanon The Wretched of the Earth (French: Les Damnés de la Terre) is a 1961 book by Frantz Fanon, in which the author provides a psychiatric and psychological analysis of the dehumanizing effects of colonization upon the individual and the nation, and discusses the broader social, cultural, and political implications inherent to establishing a social movement for the decolonization of a person and of a people.

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I WRITE WHAT I LIKE – Steve Bantu Biko I Write What I Like reflects Biko’s conviction that black people in South Africa could not be liberated until they united to break their chains of servitude, a key tenet of the Black Consciousness Movement that he helped found.

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MUSIC FEATURE IQHAWE

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‘Sad Boy Lex’

Interview by Lethabo Motlalepule Phora

If being truly multi-talented needed an embodiment, Alex Sono could be used as the dictionary definition example of the word. When he isn’t landing roles on television shows and theatre plays he is a full-time full student at the University of the Witwatersrand. Lethabo Motlalepule Phora sat down with the superstar to chat about his newly released single and to find out more about his craft.

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IQHAWE: Tell us about your EP, what can we expect from it?

ALEX: Sad Boy Lex was in some ways a project to introduce people to me as an artist as well as find ways to channel my frustration with myself and the world. It’s like a journal and every song serves as a stylized, slightly exaggerated and distorted diary inscription. It’s dark without trying to be dramatic or losing a sense of my immediate environment.

It was a therapeutic process of me choosing to wallow in melancholia as well as laughing at myself because the places I lived and grew up in did not allow that. It is 10 songs that break the conventions of hip hop and repurposes them to tell a personal story of fragile black masculinity. .IQHAWE:What got you into music, or has it always been a part of your life?

ALEX:My parents would buy me toy music instruments for my birthday, every year, I think that’s where it started. I’ve always been exposed to music through theatre and acting and mostly through being stuck in front of the TV screen for hours a day, as a kid. Art carried the life of my childhood home, films, music, and literature were the main vessel in which my parents delivered lessons. So I think I found the art in general and the mediums are just ways to convey messages. Music doesn’t have boundaries/ filters as opposed to acting. When I’m acting I’m expressing myself through the words of someone else as a different person and music is an expression of my own words and emotions under my name.

IQHAWE: Do you have a particular message you want to convey in the music you make?

ALEX: Like Tyler, The Creator once put it “Show these black kids they can be who they are.”. I just want people like me to understand that we are put in this world to fulfil a purpose and that the only way we can do that is to truly be ourselves and love ourselves and that will result in us loving each other. I also just want to be a person through art, it’s not about self-elevation, I want to bring heart to the art.

IQHAWE: Whom do you consider are/were your musical influences?

ALEX: As an artist who likes to experiment I’m influenced by artists who experiment with not only sounds but also their image and their personas to interrogate stereotypes and convention. I look up a lot to Bon Iver, James Blake, Benjamin Clementine and Tyler, The Creator. I’m inspired by Sampha and his ability to stand back and let his music speak for itself. I also look up to artists like Lauryn Hill, Common and Mos Def who have dedicated their “celebrity” to question systems and being a mouthpiece for black love and unity.

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IQHAWE; What are your current or future projects?

ALEX: I’ve just released a single entitled “Colours” and my EP “Sad Boy Lex” will be available on all streaming platforms. I’m also working on a new music project focused on the city and my relation to the spaces, particularly, home and the city. The concept is also overlapping in my work in film. I’m currently experimenting with these mediums to form new ideas and material. I’m also in the early 56

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I also just want to be a person through art, it’s not about selfelevation, I want to bring heart to the art.

stages of conceptualizing stuff for theatre. I’m thinking of finding ways to merge these mediums under one concept and see what artistic experience that might brew.

IQHAWE: Any songs or artists you’re particularly obsessed with at the moment?

ALEX: I’ve dove into some albums recently like “I, I” by Bon Iver and “I Tell A Fly” by Benjamin Clementine. I’m also currently very fascinated by Q-tip and a Tribe Called Quest as well as Mos Def/ Yasiin Bey. IQHAWE: Is there a specific song that you felt connected to the most?

ALEX: There are so many songs that have impacted me throughout my life, a few are: “Lollipop’ by Mika; “The Light” by Common and “The Beggar” by Mos Def. I’ll also just mention that “Feels” is probably the most vulnerable I have been in a song and I connect a lot to it from my catalogue.

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IQhawe Magazine’s main focus is representation, creating representation, commenting on representation as well as capturing its creating and means of execution. We do this through content creation in the form of visuals and text. Our purpose as a magazine is to unravel and define what is the aesthetic of a contemporary modern-day black creative, yet at the same time making commentary into the multi-layered facets of the young black people of our era. The magazine also functions to profile young people working in the creative industry by featuring their work to merge the gap between them and their intended audience