Love. A concept, a feeling, and a forceful emotion that has been romanticised and incarnated in legendary tales such as the criminal escapades of Bonnie and Clyde and the tragedy of Othello and Desdemona. Award-winning teenage singer-songwriter Naledi Aphiwe, fresh from an eventful beginning of the year, has dusted herself and collaborated with Umuthi signee and songbird Mawelele, the pair playing star-crossed lovers inspired by the Shakespearean romantic play Romeo & Juliet, a title their duet is also named after.
“Romeo & Juliet” is a slow-burning R&B ballad with afro-soul tinctures, as evidenced by the calm and down-tempo production stitched from soulful piano loops and guitar strings ordered with the finesse and softness befitting of a soundtrack between two lovers lip-locking under the moonlight. Held together by the solder of dulcet melodies and misty harmonies, the five-minute musical dialogue between Naledi and Mawelele heaves with passion, giving the pair intermittent pockets of breathing space to let the beat and the tension between them simmer before ascending with the duo on the chorus amid their exchange of affirmations.
Single cover art | SUPPLIED
Mawelele introduces the plot with the chorus by singing praises to his lover and letting her know how proud he is, singing: “Dali, ngawe ngiyaz’ qhenya / Uma ngikhuluma ngawe, my dali, bathi ng’yaz’ tshela / Ngifuna sihlale ndawonye.” Three lines deep into the song, the “All My Life” hitmaker conjures up parallels between himself and Aphiwe and the source material which inspired the song; that is to say that Mawelele begins the story by framing himself and his lover as lovebirds who aren’t exactly favoured by those around them. However, the crooner doubles down on the strength of their connection, telling his lover that they should put pressure on all the naysayers by continuing to write their love story together as an act of defiance.
True to the song’s skeleton mimicking that of a traditional verbal drama, Naledi sings: “Lolu uthando langempela, aksil’ elom’ dlalo / noma bengeza bebaningi ngeke basiqede,” her words mirroring the belief that Juliet had in the love she shared with Romeo, despite the two emerging from two feuding families. The theme of exceptionalism in relation to love leads the lyrical carriage of the song, with Aphiwe’s songwriting employing the same outlook expressed in the opening hook: that the two of them possessed a love too special for outsiders to understand and altogether immeasurable by conventional standards. There’s a hint of honeymoon-influenced delusion at work, but all of it is conveyed in clear and concise writing delivered with controlled vocals and measured singing.
Naledi Aphiwe and Mawelele | SUPPLIED
Besides their individual star quality and a somewhat realised understanding of their capabilities as vocalists despite being relative rookies, the pair gel well enough on “Romeo & Juliet” to sell the act. It is neither with impassioned vocal registers that they achieve this nor is it with detailed expressions of their struggles.
The two peas in a song imbue their first collaborative single with an adequate load of innocence intrinsic of youthful love. Accompanied by a heartfelt instrumental, which serves to usher Mawelele in at the beginning and bookends the end of the track, “Romeo & Juliet” feels right, the size appropriate for the duo.
Listen to “Romeo & Juliet”:
