NJ Kunene

NJ Kunene was born in Soweto on May 4, 1987 and moved to Orange Farm when he was four years old. Orange Farm is a community that has great depth in stories and a community with extraordinarily little material wealth. Growing up music was always part of his world. Both his parents are singers, so he was born into a soundscape of music as much as one of words. Growing up in a Christian home he was surrounded by faith and love: daily acts borne out of a lack of materialism and the very real unfolding of God’s grace in their lives. The music that he writes is inspired by his love for people and stories. Of believing that by working together we can create a better world.

His career began in 2008 when he wrote a song called Bayethe which would be featured in Audrey Mbuyazi’s album titled Only You released in 2009. He was also part of the award- winning Gospel band called We Will Worship which focused on diverse and multicultural worship music. During his time with the band they released two studio albums Movement Begins and Yhwh, and a live DVD album titled Mmuso.

He has had opportunities to work with some of South Africa’s greatest artists, most recently being featured on Soul’d latest single titled Tshohle. He was a guest artist on Mango Groove’s album titled Look To the Sun. He has written songs for Loyiso Bala, Lebo Skgobela, Verona Pillay, and Tee Mogano to name a few. NJ Kunene’s journey has been varied and has had a profound influence on his musicianship.

Now however, a new chapter unfolds. One where he now gets to share his songs with the rest of the world and where he tells us his stories that, once distilled, will resonate with ours. For we are part of each other, and music is a beautiful gift that is meant to be shared