Muneyi and his debut album Makhulu
African Philosophy tells us that our wisdom is found in proverbs, the oral teachings of the old wise ones. In teaching us this important lesson, our philosophy is a bank of knowledge. It is the epistemology that our ancestors possess. Therefore, it is imperative that we search within this bank. It is imperative that we converse with our grandmothers. Because, it is in these conversations, that we source the life that we can breathe into our own conversations with what comes from us. I imagine that Muneyi has found this life and has breathed it into the art that comes from him. Additionally, I can hear it in his debut album Makhulu, this continuous life.
For his grandmother ‘who absolutely loves it’
His home language TshiVenda tells us that Muneyi is a giver. And this is an album that embodies that: a giver. Makhulu is what Muneyi, a giver, has placed in his grandmother’s heart. He has given her the gift he was given in his conversations and relationship with her and her lineage.
Additionally, her heart has allowed every harmony of every song to sit in the places her body excels at loving. And for Muneyi, that is all that matters.
Even though the Afro Punk Indie artist has always written and sung his songs in Tshivenda, doing the same for Makhulu is the gift itself. It is a gift that honours the language he learned before his feet knew how to propel his body. It is something that he learned from the home that houses the everything that he and his grandmother share. And to honour his grandmother in what has carried their conversations and brought meaning to every encounter, reflects what he wishes it to. It reflects everything he carries in his heart from home.
Makhulu is really for Makhulu.
In addition, the name he bestowed upon his album, Makhulu, is the name we (Venda children) grow up calling our grandmothers. It is a sign of respect. And Muneyi has given Makhulu so much reverence in this body of ten songs, fourty minutes and fourty-six seconds. It truly is what he has given her although, he shared it with us too.