Last month my producer Adam Nicholas passed through Dubai for a few days on his way to Afghanistan (to see his sister who is doing some amazing NGO work, and to work on some music projects in Kabul.)
The timing happened to be perfect- just as I was asked to do a live acoustic preview for the new Online channel- ‘The Flex’ for the ‘FleXessions’.
So we performed an acoustic rendition of my upcoming single ‘Unite”..
Here it is, hope you enjoy 
Peace & #Unity! 
For the last day, we spent most of the day in Soweto.
Soweto has a lot of history. The name is an abbreviation for ‘South Western Townships’. A township was an area that the Government mass relocated Black Africans during Apartheid.
Soweto grabbed the worlds attention on June 16th 1976- an event took place known as the ‘Soweto Uprising’. Students led a protest against the new instruction of schools to be taught in Afrikaans, which in Desmond Tutu’s words was labelled as ‘the language of the oppressor’. Basically, when the students protested in large numbers, the police shot fire. The first child to be killed was a 13 year boy called Hector Pieterson, whose image shocked the nations. That day over 176 people were killed, including women, men and children.
Hector Pieterson being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo after being shot by South African police. His sister, Antoinette Sithole runs beside them. Photograph by Sam Nzima
It’s heart breaking to even imagine what took place those days. Thankfully those days are over, and the kids there seem to be real happy. I am sure there are some tough areas still, but at least those sign posts are gone and the restrictive outright racist laws!
Hanging out in Soweto, I felt a real sense of community.. something we lack in most of the Western world.
We were picked up by some members of the choir, and taken to Mary’s place (also a choir member) She cooked us up some real South African cuisine!
Mary lives right next to a park where loads of kids were playing. They were so happy and loved having they pictures taken! So while Mary cooked up a feast we played with them and took lots of photos
When food was ready, we all got stuck in. We washed out hands in a bowl full of boiling water and then ate the traditional way, with our fingers. We grabbed the food from the bowl then ate it with our fingers. They told us to try a bit of everything, and afterwards revealed what the contents was..
Well, guess what– I ate cow TONGUE (!), intestines!!! & cow liver.
Admittedly, none of them tasted that bad. It was all stewed and flavored with spices. Just the thought of it! :p
COW TONGUE!
[I was keen to show off to my fiancé that I tasted cow tongue, of course forgetting for a moment that the Lebanese love to eat sheep tongue!]
After our meal we popped to Sandton and took a look at the Nelson Mandela statue and the mall.
Then we went to Newtown to a bar/ restaurant called ‘Sophiatown’ for a few drinks and some food. Good vibes.
Ahhh, so that’s it! for now
And what an experience…! A week to remember forever.
Tears and laughter, music, beautiful people, incredible energy, nature… I feel extremely grateful to have had this experience.
Life is about making it happen!
The Soweto Gospel choir blew me away… and I can’t wait for you all to hear the song!
UNITE!
SIMUNYE!
<3
Nkosi’s Haven is an NGO in South Africa who provide care and support for HIV/AIDS infected mothers, her children, and resulting AIDS orphans (infected or not).
We had the opportunity to visit the Nkosi’s Haven village in Alan Manor, Johannesburg. The village covers 2.5 acres of land, and it houses 31 mothers and 98 children, of which roughly half are orphaned.
As soon as we arrived the community made us feel really welcome, and the children just wanted to hug, play, sing and dance…
We sang UNITE with the children singing the chorus and played some music games. Jus Rolle gave the kids a motivational speech making them smile and encouraging them to nurture their talent and perform with confidence.
Music can have a healing power, it really does change lives.
There is proof of that at Nkosi’s Haven…
I’ve always dreamed of coming to Africa, and for the last few years South Africa has been top of the list.
So I knew I would make it here soon… but did I ever dream that it would be to record with one of the best choirs in the world?
No… that would have felt like wishful thinking… but here I am!
Today I had a rehearsal with the Soweto Gospel choir before we go to record at the studio tomorrow. We started out with one of the best vocal warm ups I’ve ever witnessed (!) .. and then got straight into listening to what they have arranged based on the recording we sent over..
Well, when I say I was overwhelmed… it’s an understatement! I knew they would deliver. But honestly, they have completed the song perfectly. They did exactly what we had imagined- and more.
After the rehearsal we were treated to some performances of their other songs. They did an amazing rendition of the classic song by South African superstar Miriam Makeba ‘Pata Pata’, and we joined them to sing and dance… that video will have to be on the DVD- a moment to remember!
The choir are out of this world..
You cannot help but absorb the beautiful energy they exude and be inspired by it.
I am sure people will also feel that when they hear them sing on the song, it’s something beyond words.
Incredibly excited to be traveling to Johannesburg, South Africa in less than 2 weeks, to record my first single UNITE with the legendary SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR!
We didn’t read the Kick-starter deadline in time, which was a shame, it definitely would have helped the project, but not to worry, we are still pushing ahead and making it happen!
So here is a little background on how the song came about…
It all started out as a jam at my producer Adam Nicholas’ home studio in Tufnell Park London on a sunny afternoon last July. He played some nice chords with an African feel, and I started to write the song…
At first the song was entitled ‘No Difference’, but later decided on the title UNITE as that was the word friends remembered after playing it to a few people.
I think we wrote the song in about an hour, experimenting with chord changes and lyrics, a bridge section at the end… and we played it over and over again. Summery, positive, we had a good feeling about the track.
When my management heard the first draft, we added it to the provisional line up of tracks for the E.P, and later decided that it would be the main single for the E.P.
In December 2011 we went to Miloco studios in Shoreditch, London and recorded the vocals for the track..
But something was missing… we needed a choir!
Hence started the discussion about using a choir in South Africa…. after looking at a few options we reached out to The Soweto Gospel choir…. they heard the song and agreed… and the rest is history!
Stay tuned for blog updates while we are on the trip, and of course, the song itself
LOVE & LIGHT!
<3
