Leomile and Maleh to play Heritage Day gig in Joburg

The three-hour gig is in celebration Heritage Day and will afford Leomile and Maleh the opportunity to collaborate and network with local artists. The announcement comes after the release of Leomile and Maleh’s collaborative single ‘Bana ba Khoale’ on 10 September.

“The event is a platform to showcase independent alternative black artists and an opportunity to see both these artists as they prepare for the release of their individual upcoming albums,” Leomile and Maleh told Music In Africa.

“Apart from the restrictions on live music performance, we have been releasing music from an array of alternative musicians from the Eastern Cape, Lesotho and Cape Town. ‘Bana ba Khoale’ is performing well and receiving love from radio stations and had the opportunity to be performed live for the first time at the Fête de la Musique festival that took place in Newtown this past weekend.”

Leomile’s work is an interdisciplinary exploration of the overarching theme of belonging as a liberation practice. It is cultivated both internally and externally, focusing specifically on the experience of the black African. Through her music and storytelling, she seeks to deconstruct the alienating inheritance of the western colonial gaze on African culture. She launched her debut album Pula Malomo in 2016 and this saw her featured at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda and Standard Bank Joy of Jazz in 2016. Thereafter, she became a regular constituent within the Johannesburg music scene.

Maleh’s career took off in Bloemfontein when she joined Kaya for the release of the Afropop group’s debut album Kunzima. She left the group to pursue her studies at a film college in Johannesburg, where she majored in cinematography. Having worked behind the scenes for some of the most prominent jazz festivals, Maleh returned to the stage in 2010 and collaborated with a number of artists including DJ Qness, DJ Ganyani and DJ Kent.

The event is co-curated by Akum Agency and tickets are available here.