R&B star Langa Mavuso gave an intimate show in the heart of the Cape Town CBD as part of his Songs for the Sun tour on Thursday.
Held at Gallery44 in Long Street, Langa played a two-set filled with heartbreak, self-discovery and joy.
His fans from across the city couldn’t wait to experience the soulful singer live, with Covid-19 restrictions allowing for concerts to take place and he didn’t disappoint.
From the moment he opened the show with his gospel-infused song “Spirit”, the audience couldn’t help scream and shout, and it feeling as if the Holy Spirit was in the room as fans were inundated with his stellar vocal performance.
“Spirit” is featured on his self-titled album, “Langa”, that dropped last year. Speaking about his experience making an album and releasing it during the height of the pandemic he said:
“Well, like to be honest with you, it was like really stressful. But when it came to releasing all of the music...
“I really had to pray about it and I really had to let what I'm connected to God, my ancestors lead me.
“And so every single song that's released and even the album, the date equals seven.
“And when I was writing the work, it was about coming to a place of healing and coming to a place of completion about a relationship that wasn't working anymore.”
The “Pretend” singer serenaded the crowd with songs from his debut album including his hit song “Intliziyo” which features Loyiso, which like many of these other songs had the crowd screaming and singing along.
Throughout the show, he also shared stories about his first love who died and the tribulations of falling in love.
Sharing about why he’s so open in his music he said: “You know, I think music has been such a vehicle for like healing for me and with everyone that's on the project, I had to be able to be vulnerable and honest.
“I have to say everything so that I can let it go. And I think that translated in the music. It’s like the truth and the vulnerability has allowed me to get to a better place.
“And so I knew that if it allows me to get there, then the listener will also feel safe to open up themselves to the music and to the message.”
It was clear from the crowd response to every note sung by the “Panther” hitmaker that R&B music is far from dead and that with the newfound resurgence in the genre, more and more people are gravitating towards it.
Speaking about the genre seemingly getting a second wind he said: “You know, I think that the world goes through repetitive phases sometimes.
“And I think that the era that we're existing in, um, kind of borrows from the 90s in the sense, from the way we dressed, the way we move, the way we speak, the way we express ourselves.
“And I think even love and lust is such an expression of a sound that existed then.
“And I just think that people are ready, to be honest, and people are ready to experience love and they're there, ready to experience healing.
“And I always say to people, for every amapiano Saturday, there's a Sunday on Stoep with R&B. And so I'm so grateful to be part of the resurgence of this genre.
“And I think that people have been so amazingly open to receiving it.”
In 2017, Langa’s surprise drop of his song and video Sunday Blues has gained over a million views on YouTube. He ended his show with the song and also took some time to interact with his adoring fans.
Speaking about what his fans can expect for the rest of the year he said: “So we have this incredible tour.
“I'm working on new music that's coming out next year...We're working on an audiovisual experience with Johnnie Walker that will be available when things happen, and that's probably the next big thing before the next album.”