Zim: JoyRukanza shares Queendom single

‘Queendom’ heralds JoyRukanza’s forthcoming debut LP MATTER-MORE-FOR-SIS. The track leans toward pop and R&B, and offers a message of female empowerment through the use of a love story. Its attending music video was filmed at various exotic locations in Tanzania. 

The musician told Music In Africa that her new offering implores women to be the best versions of themselves. “I felt the need to write this song last year during a time when there was an unprecedented rise in domestic violence cases and we were all locked down because of the pandemic,” she said. 

“A lot of women in my country and surrounding countries like South Africa were succumbing to domestic abuse, which in some cases was fatal. I, therefore, took the initiative and wrote this song. I worked with a production team that creatively came up with visuals that eloquently showcase this message. I thought it best to write a song that would send this message while entertaining the masses as well.”

JoyRukanza added that the song ties perfectly with the concepts in her upcoming debut album, which follows a woman’s journey from heartbreak to love again.

“I hope that after watching the video and listening to ‘Queendom’, viewers are empowered and given the energy to walk away from toxic situations,” she said. “I am hoping that women can get the courage to challenge systems that work against them”

JoyRukanza’s music style is deeply rooted in R&B, but also borrows from other genres. She also names Enya, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Oliver Mutukudzi, and Rihanna among her musical influences. 

On how COVID-19 has affected her craft, the musician said that while it came with depressing effects, it challenged her to also develop herself even further. 

“The constraints of the pandemic also saw me creating some innovative ways of producing visuals for this song. I spent hours on Zoom and WhatsApp, having video calls to coordinate the visual production of ‘Queendom’. I worked tirelessly with a team whose members were from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania, and the UK. We had to be innovative and come up with ideas that would bring the video to life despite being thousands of miles apart.”