Meet ‘kuza | Composer, performer

We had the good fortune of connecting with ‘kuza and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ‘Kuza, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
Your talent will take you far.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a young composer excited to embark on a relatively new journey of self-acceptance. This sees me embracing all of my heritage – that of Bantu (Xhosa, Zulu) and Colonial (Westernization) origins. I cannot be South African without embracing these two realities. Unfortunately, I am an African living in a post-colonial frame of mind. Lately, I have been interested in how this frames my mind. I have seen how it portrays itself in my expression, which I acknowledge as a subconscious way of being. Consciously, I have never been taught how to live with it. This sets me apart from many of my colleagues in the United States (and, arguably, back home in South Africa). Today, I am making every effort to embrace my “Bantu-ness” consciously – you will likely see me in more traditional attire when I perform or use more of my native tongue in my writing, for example.
As a composer, I have been largely trained in what academia acknowledges as Western writing styles (of music). This has made my journey in composition challenging as I have never been trained to acknowledge my “African” side as I write – it has largely been from the Western perspective. So, as I continue to acknowledge and embrace all of my heritage, I come across many hurdles because it is like I am starting my undergraduate years again. I am blessed to be completing my doctorate at an institution that allows me to do all this challenging work.
Some lessons I have learned thus far include: “Once you know better, you do better” – Maya Angelou; these words ring in my mind as I come across feelings of being a fraud of some sort. Another lesson I have learned is that I only have one life, and it is my journey, which means that it will probably not look the same as someone else’s and that neither makes it better or worse; it just makes it different.
That final lesson is where I am currently in my expression. I have a self-quoted phrase that states, “Let me not, no, just add to the noise. Let me harmonize to the silence.” Because my journey is my own, I do not have to fit into any other mold, i.e., being “African” – whatever that means to people. My quote acknowledges that I have the right to harmonize to the silence – the silence represents peace, the knowing, and the truth. This is why I am building a brand around “harmonizeto”.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
FOOD, FOOD, and FOOD! I would take them to the South African spots in town – Zunzi’s, and Biltong Bar at Ponce City Market. We would take our boerewors rolls to Piedmont Park and spend an afternoon there catching up. Then, we would head back to Biltong Bar to grab some wine and biltong to end the night.
The next day, I would take them thrift shopping. That’s one thing we do not get to do back home, so we would go thrifting and balance the day out with hitting the belt line and grabbing a drink (or two).
On the third day, we could see an artist in the evening (hopefully someone is performing that week!), and we would go wherever that person is performing, but hopefully, it’s Mercedes Benz Stadium (I would love to show them that). During the day, we would go back to the belt line and do casual walking and grab some ice cream vibe – it would remind them of the Cape Town promenade (minus the ocean).
Back to FOOD, we would have to eat some southern cuisine chile, so maybe we could do that during the fourth day and hit a karaoke bar!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
In my story, this would be Yeshua, my Messiah.

Website: https://harmonizeto.com

Instagram: harmonizeto

Youtube: harmonizetokuza

Image Credits
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