00:00Greetings, my friends.
00:01My name is Selema Masekela.
00:03Welcome to this special Afropunk edition of What Shapes Us, and it is my thrilling honor
00:09to have a conversation with perhaps one of the most powerful women in music that you
00:13may or may not know of, the one and only Moonchild, Senele.
00:24Thank you so much, hey?
00:25It's my pleasure.
00:27When they called me and they said that you were doing Afropunk, did I want to talk to
00:31you?
00:32I was like, yes!
00:33I watched this child just go to the moon, you know, in the last two and a half years.
00:38And it's been really, really exciting to watch from afar, from over here.
00:43Like I always get really proud.
00:44I'm like, hey, I know her.
00:48I got you, Selema.
00:50From the outside looking in, your personality is an amplifier of your talent, because your
00:55talent is massive.
00:58But it's an amplification system.
01:00I'm here for my truth and what I stand for.
01:04And you're going to deal with it, because you know what?
01:06I know how to make a hit for your ear, too.
01:08There it is.
01:10I understand that one.
01:11I understand completely why my father called you and said, OK, I see this one.
01:16I could see him, I know him and I could see him being like, oh, this person, she gets it.
01:22First thing he ever said, if you have question of the industry, ask me, I've got you.
01:29And he stuck to that word, because he then booked me at a jazz place.
01:32When I saw you in Black is King, when your part came, I got so excited, because I just,
01:39I looked and I said, this woman is bathing in joy right now.
01:44It came through the screen, like you were taking advantage of full arrival.
01:48When I met Beyonce, I had to bask in it.
01:51I kept, Tiara Wack made it so easy, she wasn't cracking jokes and stuff.
01:55And I was just like, I didn't even realize I was that quiet.
01:59I was in my head, but I was delivering.
02:01Trust me, South Africa doesn't even know I did Coachella with Diplo last year.
02:06They don't, but I'm not going to stress it to them.
02:08We won the Berlin Music Video Awards two years ago over Elton John and Ed Sheeran.
02:14And these are people now that are connected to everyone I'm working with.
02:18And South Africa doesn't know it, but I've got a whole life that side.
02:21I'm DJing and I'm hosting shows on BBC Radio.
02:25That side in South Africa is still dealing with me being vocal alone.
02:29But I'm living in the world, but I'm carrying South Africa with me to the world.
02:33It's something to watch, you know, and to listen to you speak it.
02:37I'm a moving wagon and there's no dog that barks at a car that's standing still.
02:41So for as long as you're barking at me, I know my power.
02:44I'm a moving car.
02:45And if you're not on the wagon, I'm moving nonetheless.
02:47So jump on, come with an asset, because if you're a liability, I'm not here to give free rides.
02:53There seems to be this thing where like, especially in a male driven or male controlled industry,
02:58one woman is doing one thing one way, right?
03:00So perhaps there's one who's saying, OK, I'm going to use the power like this.
03:04Then they assume that you are going to also use the power like this.
03:08And when you say no, actually, it's going to be this way.
03:11You run up against a wall.
03:12Learning to say fuck you without you losing the business is the biggest trick.
03:19I feel like my father is in the nexus and he's going, yes, she said it exactly how it is.
03:29That's what my father had to do in a different way.
03:31Yeah.
03:32He spoke and said things as they were, as opposed to how people wanted to hear them.
03:37In South Africa, I'm booked by white people festivals, and I've now become the main black
03:43girl on the main stage with just white people to a point where even employees at the ticket
03:48place come to me to say, thank you for representing us from that space.
03:53I wanted more.
03:54Then I strategize.
03:55I wrote down, I said, how do I not change myself, but carry South Africa with me to the world?
04:00I'm a songwriter.
04:02So I've written my top three people in the world to collaborate with.
04:06I'm at Diplo's house.
04:07I'm going back again because he's on my album.
04:10I am working with gorillas.
04:11I'm at their house to smoke weed together and make music.
04:14And I've got to meet Beyonce and work with her as well.
04:17And I know this is not the end.
04:19It's just the beginning.
04:20I write things.
04:21I write everything I achieve.
04:23It's planned.
04:24And when I meet it, I think I meet it with a calm that comes with sticking a box and asking
04:28what's next.
04:29My brand comes from my personality and I can't schedule what I'm going to say next.
04:34But whatever it is I'm going to say next stands for the same consistent thing.
04:38I've been raped too many times now.
04:40I've been raped on my bed.
04:41I've been sexually violated by my uncle.
04:43That's why I ran away from home at 19.
04:45I'm 32.
04:45I've never been back home.
04:47If I could run away from my blood, by the time I deal with the world, you do not matter.
04:52Instead of me looking at it as a victim, it's almost like rape is almost like breathing.
04:58So what am I going to do now?
04:59Am I going to cry forever?
05:01The world doesn't care.
05:01The cops don't care.
05:03What am I going to do?
05:04Fortunately for me, I have a channel and maybe I have to go through those things to not speak
05:09from an observer's point of view, but an actual experience point of view to touch even more
05:14people because there's so many people that are sexually violated in secret, but if they can hear
05:18a song that liberates them, but doesn't exclude anyone because my voice just sounds fun.
05:23That's the psychology I use in music.
05:25I give you dance music while talking about issues.
05:28So you will respect me because you don't care about songwriting, but you will respect me as
05:32a songwriter too, if you listen outside of the dance floor, but I'm able to make you forget while
05:37singing along to things that need to change in the environment and empowering women.
05:43If I can make a girl child sing along to my lyrics until they understand what they mean,
05:50like run from F boys until they deal with one, at least the verse is going to empower them
05:55to at least think about it. You've made a change.
05:57When you make someone think about what they're comfortable with, that's not necessarily good
06:02in their life. I am the person I needed through the radio when I was a kid.
06:09I still appreciate the lessons I learned, but my experiences and what I fight for is what
06:15I'm going to stick to because my existence is what I wish I had.
06:20It's extremely powerful. The choices that you've made to say these things,
06:27these things are what took place and happened to me, but they are not going to be my story.
06:35And if you've got that one voice that doesn't exclude anyone, but touches the ones it needs to,
06:40we're good. I feel like you have like two or three books in you.
06:45I got volume, so. What's next?
06:49The Grammys, 2022 Grammys. I'm there. My album. So I'm going to be traveling the world.
06:55I'm writing for different artists for different genres because it's like expressing emotion in
07:00any piece because I'm just telling a story. Africa has always been relevant, right?
07:05Everything that Africa has to give has always been relevant. Now, you are part of a renaissance of
07:13sorts in that the world is paying attention. Kids want to, they want to be it. It's influencing
07:20fashion. It's influencing music here. What is the bigger picture of Africa, of the continent's
07:26influence look like in the culture? I always viewed myself as bigger than my space, not better
07:32than my space, bigger than my space. Because of the main spaces we've been brought up at,
07:38we can watch Africa being the future as a subject or a topic and not know how to be a part of the
07:45subject. So I won't be famous for free, honey. I'm making pampers ads. I've got an ad for insurance
07:51company in the UK that's coming out soon because of my songwriting. And it's still very distinct.
07:56It comes from South Africa. It comes with pride, but South Africans still need to be taught
08:00about their actual speciality. You can't blame or fault them because apartheid is still here.
08:051994 passed, but the children that are here today are still brought up by the kids that were brought
08:10up by people that were fucking deprived of life as Blacks. So I'm here to say, Black child, go rewrite
08:18your dream. Dream bigger than your circumstance. Dream bigger than everything they tell you. If you've got
08:23no security or safety at home, at least tune onto your radio and you'll hear me and I've got you.
08:28Amen. I believe that that is a word.
08:36A whole and entire word. And that shows you the element of me being myself and living my dream and
08:46it being a privilege for you to see me live it. Moonshild, I'm very, very grateful for this conversation.
08:51Thank you. To be continued.
08:57Take care. Go well.
08:59Take care.
09:01Bye.
09:04Bye.
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