SA: Bongeziwe Mabandla’s iimini debuts at No 1 on iTunes

Iimini was released on 27 March and is Mabandla’s third album after Umlilo (2012) and Mangaliso (2017).

The album – which features such tracks as ‘Mini Esadibana Ngayo’, ‘Masiziyekelele’, ‘Salanabani’ and 'Khangela' (video below) – also made a big impression on iTunes' R&B and soul charts around the world. It was No 1 in Botswana and came second in France, Switzerland and Austria. The album took No 2 and No 23 in the Netherlands and the US, respectively.

"I’m happy," Mabandla, who is signed to Black Major, told Music In Africa. "I don’t really make music for the charts but it feels really good to find out people are listening to my music and that an artist like me can have a chance to be at the top of the charts.

"This is a testament to the fact that we create music on par with global standards and that South African creativity is strong. It is a great time for South African music and many of our artists are busy building international careers. Artists like Black Coffee, DJ Lag and Sho Madjozi occupy spaces in the global electronic music scene, and then artists like myself, BCUC and Morena Leraba [Lesotho] are in the live space. I think it is amazing to have this level of response considering everything I write is in Xhosa. People are moved by the emotive international language of music."

Black Major director Sevi Spanoudi said: “This is a ray of sunshine in South Africa’s first weekend of lockdown. When COVID-19 broke and all tours and live album promotion events were cancelled, we were desperately disappointed because so much hard work had been put into making this release a success.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t have worried. Fans all over the world have tuned in, streamed, downloaded, posted and sent hundreds of messages.”

Iimini is available for streaming and download here.