Katlego Sekhu
Esteemed South African singer/songwriter Brenda Mtambo recently joined my Top 10 at 10 with Tbose for an exclusive interview following her five-year break from the music industry.
Mtmabo opened up about her new album Sane and losing her mom in 2020.
The singer tells Tbose that when she was recording this album, she was struggling because she had just lost her mom.
“I lost my mom in 2020. She was involved in a bad accident. It came as a shock. The accident happened in October 2019. I had a show at that time in Pietermaritzburg. I was flying back to Johannesburg for a show.
“I just continued with the whole day. I see the same number trying to call me at 11 p.m. after a show. They told me that my mother had been involved in a very bad car accident. From that day on, I never felt okay,” said Mtambo.
After her mom’s accident, Mtambo did everything in her power to make everything “fine” for her mom.
“All her nerves were destroyed. I wasn’t okay because I knew she wasn’t going to make it,” she added.
“After her passing, we were in lockdown, and I was forced to be home and face everything. I honestly don’t know what was happening to me. I didn’t have any explanation of what I was going through at the time. I found out I was having panic attacks.”
She notes that recording this album was “her way of looking for something that could bring some peace because everything else was not going well.” The album came as an escape she needed.
“It’s the sound that I have always wanted in terms of the overall sound. I was in control of how I wanted my story to be told. How I want the sound to sound like. I produced this album with the producers, which is something that I haven’t done before. Before, I’d let everyone tell me how the sound should sound. The woman that I am now is in control,” said Mtambo.
Listen to Brenda Mtmabo’s full interview on My Top 10 at 10 with Tbose.
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