After an extraordinary 30-year career that has shaped and challenged the soundscape of South African music, KING THA — known to many as Thandiswa Mazwai — continues to redefine what it means to be a visionary artist.

In 2025 she dominated the South African Music Awards (SAMAs), walking away with four major wins for her latest album SANKOFA: Best Female Artist of the Year, Best Produced Album of the Year, Best African Adult Contemporary Album, and Best Engineer, underscoring her artistic depth and lasting cultural influence.

In this interview, KING THA reflects on her earliest musical memories, the making of her acclaimed album Sankofa, and the creative spirit that continues to guide her craft.

1. Do you remember the first album you ever bought?

With my own money? I went to the CNA when they used to sell CDs and bought Teddy Pendegras. I really loved his voice, and he reminded me of my mother. But the first cassette my parents bought me, along with a bright red “Walkman” (Google it, kids), was Madonna. I was a huge fan of her rebellious female spirit. Like Brenda Fassie.

2. Your latest album, Sankofa, was nominated for five SAMAs. Talk to us about how you ‘culled’ the music for Sankofa?

It was a slow process of digging in the archive at ILAM and imagining how those could merge. I did most of this with my collaborator Tendai Shoko. Once we had rough sketches, I sent those to Meshell Ndegeocello and Nduduzo Makhathini, artists I admire and have collaborated with extensively over the years.

Meshell and Nduduzo played the role of producer and really embellished the music, adding layers and textures in the studio with some of the world’s most incredible musicians. Like Tarus Mateen from the USA on bass or Baye Diop from Dakar on guitar.

At the prestigious ceremony, Sankofa walked away with these accolades:

• Best Female Artist of the Year;
• Best Produced Album of the Year;
• Best African Adult Contemporary Album; and
• Best Engineer.

3. This album seemed to have marked a watershed moment in your career. Talk about some of your fears, hopes and joys surrounding the release of this body of work.

Making this album was all I had hoped for. This is not to say it was easy, but the process revealed such beautiful things to me about friendship and trust. About collaboration and the need for LOVE to always lead in the creative space.

I was so happy to travel to Dakar and New York City for some of the sessions. It was a journey I will never forget. For its grace and its gifts. With every album I make, I grow, not only as a singer, songwriter, producer, but as a human being in search of community and LOVE.

4. You’ve done music, izinkamba/pottery (learning from Kim Sacks and advice for Jabulani Nala), and have appeared in the movie, ‘Catch A Fire’. What’s something you’ve never tried that you’d still like to do?

I have a massive passion for fashion and over the years I guess my personal style has been influential. I would like to design a fashion line. It’s something I have always loved. I used to make clothes for my dolls when I was a kid, and ke Bantu education also taught us how to sew dresses and fix hems as well as buttons. No doubt for our eminent futures as housemaids for the madam. (Ah, growing up during apartheid) I even learnt how to make a pleat.

5. Your last performance that I attended at the Lyric Theatre was the ‘Belede’ and ‘Sankofa’ show backed by a jazz quartet. When you were walking around onstage, I could feel this warm energy, and saw this light on you, and it wasn’t the light from the spotlight. It was the light in you… Do you know that you are bringing people to an awareness that there’s something greater than themselves?

I didn’t always know this. All I knew was that I had to inject a deep sense of integrity in my work. But over the years, (I have been doing this for 30 yrs now), I have realised that there is something. Something about me and that stage. Something about the fellowship we share.  I have learnt to give it its reverence and embrace the beauty that music can create in the world.

6. You’ve had a wonderful working relationship over the years with other musicians such as Tendai Shoko, Nduduzo Makhathini, Somi, and Meshell Ndegeocello. What makes a successful musical relationship for you?

Respect for each other’s gifts and process while working. What’s also important a true friendship. This matters most.

7. In the past, you’ve spoken about a certain sense of musical spontaneity that you and your bandmates have on stage. You’ll start a tune, and all of a sudden, a groove will take place, and it’ll be something unique that you didn’t hear before. How easily are you able to look at those moments and say, “That happened, now let’s see what happens tomorrow night.” Or do you find yourself feeling something on stage and going, “Let’s try that again tomorrow”?

The stage is a great place for spontaneity. We rarely manage to repeat something verbatim. Those moments of improvisation are what I live for. This is a human connection! Spontaneous, visceral, honest. As we listen and respond to each other’s spontaneity, we feel a sense of elevation, a closeness with something outside the body. Something in the spirit.

7. When you began, you were inspired and mentored by artists who came before you (Bra Hugh, Busi Mhlongo, Dorothy Masuku, Sibongile Khumalo, etc). There’s been a tradition of mentorship in the world of “jazz”. I’ve read some social media posts you’ve made, affirming and celebrating young musicians such as Zoe Modiga and Titi Luzipo, for example. Is the idea of mentorship and the idea of “living schools” still happening in your world? And which musicians have had an impact on you in this current generation of SA music?

I love this idea of the “living school”. This is always alive in us, no? Everyone we meet, every experience, is a pathway to change and growth. Yes, you have mentioned some of the young people I love, like Zoe and Titi or Lia Butler and Kujenga. There are many.

What I know about mentorship in my experience is that it is less about having someone teach you what they know, it is more about watching them, both on stage and off. It is about asking them how they see life in general.

8. Lastly, are you working on any new music? Will there be another album after Sankofa?

Sankofa is only a year old and so I’m not planning anything big anytime soon, but I am constantly mulling a new idea about, ready to go when the spirit calls.

From her first CD purchase at CNA to global collaborations and milestone moments on stages around the world, KING THA’s journey remains one rooted in passion, integrity, and community. With Sankofa still resonating deeply across audiences and borders, she reminds us that artistry is not only about accolades, but evolution, love, and connection.