Singer Namhla Mbawuli is celebrating a great milestone after graduating with a Master of Business Administration degree from Gibs (Gordon Institute of Business Science Business School), on April 20.
Speaking to “IOL Entertainment”, Mbawuli said she is returning to her first love, music, after a three-year hiatus.
Her music took a back burner so she could focus on her studies.
And now, she’s back in the studio recording new music, which she hopes to release later in the year.
“In 2019 I decided to take a break from music and focus on my academic development.
“The music industry is a business and like any other business, it requires strategic processes and effective operation in order to meet the bottom line.
“Now my MBA journey is complete, I intend to take full advantage of the learnings and use them in my musical journey in order to develop my brand and make music again.”
While studying, Mbawuli didn’t stop making music.
“I didn’t neglect music completely, I don’t think that’s possible in all honestly. I instead used my gap to also do more collaboration projects and to write more music.
“Some collaborative projects I’ve worked on include vocals with TDeep, DJ Mizz, and of course, DJ Meq. These are all DJs with unique sounds and all three projects have helped me get to know myself better.
“I’ve been in the studio recording some material that is still in its draft form at the moment.”
With the local music scene evolving over the years, Mbawuli says she’s ready to experiment with different sounds and genres.
“The SA music industry has developed a great deal over the past three years with amapiano taking over the world. It’s been beautiful to witness.
“We’ve also lost a great deal of talent and that loss has further pushed me to want to come back.
“I believe I have a gift and something to offer to the South African and global music industry and the last thing I want to do is live with regret wondering if only I should have, could have, but didn’t.
“When I first launched my career in 2016, I dabbled with different kinds of music genres in order to see what I resonate with.
“Now there’s an afro-electro sound I’m exploring and I can’t wait to share it with the world.
Mbawuli wants to encourage fellow musicians to invest in education, “after all, education is power”.