Msaki

Asanda Lusaseni, known professionally as Msaki, is a South African composer, singer, songwriter, and visual artist. Trained in fine art, graphic design, film photography, and curation at Rhodes University, Leeds University, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, and East London Technikon, Msaki embodies the rare fusion of musical and visual storytelling.
A South African Music Award (SAMA) winner, Msaki has become one of the country’s most respected voices in contemporary art and music. She contributed as a writer, composer, and artist to Black Coffee’s Grammy Award–winning album and her collaboration Fetch Your Life with Prince Kaybee became one of South Africa’s most iconic anthems — topping national charts.
Her debut EP Nalithemba (2013) and full-length album Zaneliza: How the Water Moves (2016) established her as a formidable songwriter. The album earned SAMA nominations and produced Imfama Ziyabona, which held a spot on the Metro FM charts for 19 weeks. In 2022, she released the ambitious double album Platinumb Heart — Platinumb Heart Open and Platinumb Heart Beating — which earned five SAMA nominations and won Best Adult Contemporary Album and Female Artist of the Year.
Msaki was honoured as the Standard Bank Young Artist for Music (2022) and featured in the South African Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2024).
Her practice now intentionally synthesises her musical and visual expression, merging installation and performance. This evolving artistic language has been showcased through milestone works such as the launch of her double album “Platinumb Heart” and its live iteration, Of Love and Protest, at Nirox Sculpture Park (2022), and the immersive performance installation Ndiyozilanda at the National Arts Festival (2023). Msaki was named the Standard Bank Young Artist for Music (2022) and featured as part of the South African Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2024).
In 2024–2025, Msaki expanded her creative reach into theatre as composer and musical director for Dancing the Death Drill at the Joburg Theatre, a moving stage adaptation of Fred Khumalo’s award-winning novel.
Parallel to her personal artistry, Msaki has consistently built platforms that serve and nurture creative ecosystems. She founded ALTBLK>>Continua, Fetch Your Life Foundation, and Misimu Life — initiatives dedicated to mentorship, artist development, and cultural collaboration across the African continent. Over the past year, she has expanded the ALTBLK Africa collective, facilitating multiple residencies and songwriting camps in Kenya, Réunion Island, and South Africa, strengthening creative exchange across regions.
In 2024, Msaki marked ten years in music with a landmark orchestral concert, Camagu in Symphony, celebrating a decade of creative evolution and community building.
Msaki describes this new chapter as one of transition and service:
“The transition I am feeling is about making more space to use my energy and vision to serve while I am young. I understand my calling as an artist, but it now comes with a responsibility to care — for my peers, the industry, and the next generation.”
Whether through composing, curating, mentoring, or community building, Msaki continues to embody a vision...