In December 2018, Sho Madjozi was one of the acts that performed at the then eagerly-awaited Global Citizen Concert in Johannesburg, South Africa.
At the time, her career had literally just started and she was about to release her debut album Limpopo Champions League.
This is a trip down memory lane of Sho Madjozi's Global Citizen performance captured in four notable areas as well as her iconic outfit featured in a museum in London.
1. Kona
Kona is one of the songs on Limpopo Champions Leagues and will go down as one of Sho Madjozi’s best songs. It is a classic and she truly embodies the meaning of the song; “we belong everywhere” as her authenticity enables her to live by this message; she is true to herself and self-aware.
2. Stage Presence
The multi-award winning artist’s stage presence is undeniable, it’s electric. There is always something about how happy, energised and engaging she is that you cannot help but tap into her energy. She gives the impression of someone who is enjoying her job.
Her impeccable stage presence could be attributed to the fact that she’s also a spoken word artist and it has moulded her into the stage goddess she is. You feel her presence.
3. Generous With Sharing Her Light
One thing about Sho Madjozi, she is very generous with sharing her space with her dancers (as she should) and it is captivating to watch. She is not afraid of sharing her light with her team on stage; and this can be seen from the way she was hyping and cheering her dancers during her performance while engaging the crowd to join her in cheering them and appreciating their dance moves. A true morale boaster, who derives immense pleasure from watching her team excel.
4. Iconic Outfit Styled With A Revolutionary Approach
Culture is meant to evolve and Sho Madjozi's styling of the Xibelani personifies evolution and challenges the status quo of how a Xibelani is often worn; which makes her a disruptor.
For example her iconic outfit had a revolutionary approach to how she wears the Xibelani, like wearing it with shorts or a short Xibelani below the knees.
Of course some purists would complain about her how short her Xibelani is styled, yet the versatile creative and style icon says Xibelani went through so many eras.
Indoctrination: it is the missionaries who said a short Xibelani was too provocative, which made some Tsonga people to believe that it should be below the knees yet it wasn't the case before the missionaries came. Which once again brings us back to the pertinent question; who tells and writes our history or better yet documents our culture? Because Xibelanis were short before the missionaries came.
Watch Sho Madjozi’s iconic outfit at the V&A museum in London <here>. The outfit was made in collaboration with Older Die Invloed and Sho Madjozi, who says she’s incredibly careful and specific about the work she put forward hence it takes time.
Fast forward to 2023, the cultural icon is a published author of a children’s book titled Shoma and the Stars. Her star stays shinning, we can only wait to immerse ourselves in whatever the multifaceted disruptor and cultural icon has in store for us.
Sources: Sho Madjozi | Twitter | Instagram