For hip hop artist Siyabonga Metane, popularly known as Slikour, heritage is the “constant acknowledging of culture as it shifts”.
Having been in the music industry for 25 years, he shared how his heritage influenced his work.
What has been your secret to a successful music career?
The idea is pivoting and listening to the world as it changes.
What does heritage mean to you?
Heritage is the constant acknowledging of culture as it shifts. It’s not one constant thing it’s a narrative that accumulates as humans evolve.
How will you be celebrating Heritage Day?
I will be spending the day with my family.
How does your heritage contribute to the music that you make?
It comes out organically in the choral sounds we utilise, the words that we speak, from the backgrounds we come from, and the tempo of the music.
It’s almost ingrained that even if you doing something that’s not your heritage like hip hop we find ourselves recreating it based on our heritage and influences.
You have contributed to the “Amaqhawe” Apple Music playlists, what influenced your song choices?
The songs represent the songs we grew up listening to in our households as children, the songs we created with our generation of artists, and the songs I ended up listening to religiously because they meant something to my whole being.
What is your favourite local song?
I won’t lie, there are too many. Let’s say “Ndiredi” by Simphiwe Dana. Its speaks to my soul. For me, it carries the weight of a prayer for strength.
Which artists do you feel best encapsulates SA’s heritage through their music?
Right now it is Sjava, Thandiswa Mazwai and Kabza Da Small.