Storming into 2025 with smash hits such as “Amen” and “Xola”, singer-songwriter Busisiwe Thwala, popularly known as Cici, couldn’t have asked for better forerunners to proclaim the eventual coming of her latest studio album Busisiwe 2.0. Billing it as an about-face and a return to herself, Cici’s recent resurgence has catapulted her name back into the spotlight as an unrelenting force, and with the album already released, the songstress’s blueprint for success has been staying authentic to herself and re-aligning herself with people capable of recognising her light and bringing it out to the full.
“Staying true to myself has been the biggest lesson for me in these past years, with everything that has happened. This also means I’ve had to learn to not let too many voices into my head because when that starts to happen, you allow people to start dictating who you are to become. That’s when you forget who you wanted to be. That’s why Busiswe 2.0 is an album about me returning to myself because I initially surrounded myself with people who didn’t see the vision and could not see how great Cici can get as a brand and as an artist. There wasn’t any alignment in the way I was moving before and between me and the people I was with,” she said.
Cici with her platinum plaque for “Xola” | Credit: Instagram
Turning over different genres ranging from gospel to Afrobeats and Lekompo, Cici shared the key difference between the first Busisiwe as well as the newly-dropped sequel, crediting the growth to her cosmopolitan approach to music.
“Looking at Busisiwe 2.0 and the first one, the one similarity the albums share is that there’s always a story. There’s always an element of who I am as a person and as an artist, as well as the things I have been through and what I am going through currently. The difference is that with this one, I’m simply doing me. I don’t like to box myself as a creative. So, I don’t think of myself as an R&B artist or an afropop artist or even an Afrobeats artist. I’m simply an artist, a creative. Whatever I feel in that particular moment, I create using that. Right now, I’m working some amazing Nigerian talents such as BoyPee and Hyce, among others as well as Mimi Mars from Tanzania. Those are more Afrobeats inspirations I am exploring. Then there’s a song I’ve been pushing with Naledi that leans on the Lekompo sound. So the album was about taking everything I have listened to over the years and to pick the stuff that I liked so I can bundle it into one thing,” she said.
Check out Busisiwe 2.0 below:
Cici spoke about the intentionality of making the album a project that many could resonate with based on whatever moods they found themselves in at the time.
“This album is a collection of songs I made to be relatable to people. There’s a prayerful song such as “Amen” with Naledi Aphiwe, and then there’s “Mali”, which I made when I was going through hell with my then-recording label, what with being back and forth with legal battles. So with this project, there’s a song for every moment because it’s an assorted album. Whether you wanna pray or dance or be happy, you’ll be catered for because it’s an all-encompassing album.
“I never write a song that speaks to one moment. That’s why with “Mali”, one can hear that I was fighting for my freedom. I knew how great I could become and yet I found myself stuck in this box. Then there’s “Running”, which speaks about me being in love with this person and also wanting to be with them. So, each song in this album speaks to a different moment at different times,” she said.
Cici | SUPPLIED
Cici ascribed her longevity in the game to her ability to stick to her guns: being a storyteller who strived to write songs that don’t spoil, music that her listeners could go back to because of the pull of affinity.
“Being real as much as I can has helped my artistry in so many ways. Because if you look at Busisiwe, my first album, there are so many songs I still perform that people resonate with when I do them on stage. So, it’s been critical for me to make music that is true and doesn’t pander to gimmicks. You know, not bubblegum music. Even if I cross over to a certain genre, I always make sure that it’s a song many will be able to relate to. For example, “Hamba Juba” is a very different genre for a person like me; it’s not the kind of thing people expected of me. Yet, it’s a song that people could see themselves in. Being a storyteller, which is who I am, is one thing I will always stay true to. My music, as a result, always has a long shelf life because what I talk about in my songs sticks with listeners,” she said.
Cici spoke about blocking out the noise when it comes to her artistry, making it clear that having it her way has been a signature modus operandi that has given her success. She also highlighted that she didn’t live for the validation of those she didn’t consider qualified to pass verdicts concerning her music and any experimentation she might have in the piplelines.
“I feel like with age, I’ve grown to be surer of who I am and what I want to do. So, it doesn’t really matter what other people say. I remember when I did “Hamba Juba”, someone who was in the game sent me a message telling me that the song was not going to work, that there’s too many people already doing amapiano, blah, blah, blah. With me, I’ve never been that person really. I’ve never been the one to go around listening to other people. For me, it’s about doing what I want to do, in that moment. That’s what this album is also about. Here, I am more about what I want to do as opposed to what is expected of me by other people. So, people might say, ‘Oh, but if you don’t have a defined genre, then you can’t be placed anywhere.’ That’s the thing, though. I’m not looking to be placed anywhere. I also don’t take criticism from people that I don’t look up to or admire, because it’s easy for people to critique something that you do when they themselves have never built something for themselves and don’t understand what it takes to get there. Most of the times, people talk because it’s sabaweling energy really, nothing else,” she said.
Cici | SUPPLIED
With her album out on all major digital streaming platforms, Cici spoke about her next moves, including a tour and plans of brand expansion beyond the South African music circuit.
“When I do my features, I’m very intentional. So, I’ve got a couple of African features, and it’s all with the intention of crossing over into the African market eventually, and then the European market as time goes. That’s why I’ve got guys like Hyce and Praiz and Mimi in the album; I mean to cross over into the Nigerian and Tanzanian markets. To be continental. That’s my plan this year. I’ve also got a tour coming up, with the first ones being in the Eastern Cape and Johannesburg, so I’m pretty excited about those. I think I created those shows specifically for my fans because I feel like when you get booked it’s just a bunch you as artists pulling up to perform and you get, like, twenty minutes on stage, and so you end up just trying to hit all the highlights of your catalogue. You don’t get the chance to fully connect with your audience. You don’t get to curate a thing, such as wanting something specific for your entrance or something you’d like as a unique feature of your performance. That’s why doing my own shows is a big deal because it feels like a family meeting of sorts. It’s our time together,” she said.
