SA’s Mafikizolo and DRC’s Tresor collaborate on a new single

The artists met at Universal's studios to assign parts and record the final song. Produced by Tyron Woods, a South African house music producer, the single was premiered at Creative Week in Durban. It was specifically written for the Loeries — a non-profit company that administers awards for the brand communications industry in Africa and the Middle East.

The song was inspired by the Loeries 2016 theme, Creativity Unites. Tresor, who wrote and composed the song, said in a statement: "When creativity comes together to create and collaborate, we can soar much higher."

He added: "I am a big fan of Mafikizolo and when the opportunity was presented by Universal Music Publishing Group, I jumped at it. Our genres are different, but we are all pioneers of African music with our sounds. It's really about encouraging unity and joining forces for much bigger and better results. The Zulu verse added by Theo gives great balance and we're really happy with how the song turned out."

Given their history of pan-African collaborations, Mafikizolo were the perfect fit to perform the song. Made up of Nhlanhla Nciza and Theo Kgosinkwe, the duo has previously collaborated with Nigerian artists Davido and May D as well as with Tanzania's Diamond Platnumz.

Mafikizolo performed 'Soar' at the opening of the Loerie Awards ceremony on Sunday 21 August. As the official music partner to the Loeries, Universal Music facilitated the creation and recording of the official awards song. Tresor is a Universal Music Publishing (UMP) composer, and Mafikizolo are Universal Music Group (UMG) artists.

The single will be officially released later this year.