Single + Video, Directed by Clout Killed the Kids out Now
Eponymous Album to Follow in the Fall
‘There seems to be a lot of Black people on Mars’ is how MUZI , aka The Zulu Skywalker, opens the lead single from his forthcoming full length record, INTERBLAKTIC. It’s a startling body of work that is joyful, optimistic, proud, self-reliant, full of love and fantastical from one of South Africa’s most exciting artists.
Over the past five years MUZI has been redefining the musical landscape of modern South Africa, while simultaneously having a global impact. Channeling the rich, and until recently overlooked, house music history of South Africa with the Zulu traditions of his childhood, the country’s Bubblegum era and local genres like Maskandi, Kwaito and Isicathamiya, MUZI is making music that is universally danceable but with a rich sense of place.
MUZI’s path has seen him evolve from bedroom beat producer, to DJ, to now a fully fledged performer and vocalist. A boundless and exuberantly joyful artist, MUZI has wowed crowds on tastemaking stages around the world and is confident enough in his own vision to design his own clothing and artwork, direct his own videos, and collaborate with artists such as Chris Martin, Gruff Rhys and Coldplay, while earning co-signs from the likes of Stormzy and Damon Albarn.
INTERBLAKTIC is a fitting glimpse of the forthcoming album, setting the cosmic stage for another chapter in the adventures of MUZI’salter-ego, Zulu Skywalker. The single and video encapsulate so much of what makes MUZI unique; self-love, loss, a sense of place and a powerful uncompromising audio and visual aesthetic. MUZI also plans to engage with fans all over the world on his Instagram Live at 21:00 (SAT) on a live Q&A session today.
MUZI’s film production entity with Espacio Dios, Clout Killed The Kids directed the video in Johannesburg, and even as he sets off on another interplanetary exploration his love and pride for his homeland and its people are evident. He visualized the zebra leather uniform of Zulu Skywalker and designed it in partnership with VANS. The leather and animal skin, symbolic in South Africa for the past and present colliding, a theme MUZI’s album will explore, even as it looks to the future.
The single, like the album, offers a respite from the darkness of the past year, a sense of hope and optimism for the future, even as we confront hard realities of the present.
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