For Durban-born rising star Lu-Zer, music isn’t art to be shaped by a box of label expectations, societal norms, and what’s popping on the charts—it’s an intimate experience born from an original world within.
An unheard voice before, they were one of the winners that clinched the Lady of the House competition with their song titled “Ndawo Yami”. They spoke about the creation path of the song dedicated to their late mother, a track christened after Zamajobe’s own classic released in 2004.
Lu-Zer | SUPPLIED
“I remember when I first listened to this beat by two co-producers called Fred Irie and Kevin and it caught my attention immediately because it made me want to start dancing. So my initial thoughts were about what I could add to the beat, plus it’s not the usual genre I’m used to making things with. However, I did want to experiment with it because I am a genre-bending artist—not just a dance and Afrobeats person. What I had in mind was bringing it closer to home so that it’s something familiar to what one would hear of something that is South African.
“The second layer is that my mom listened to that kind of music, so I resonated with her when I listened to the beat. While freestyling to the beat—because that’s what I usually do when I create a new song—the first lyrics that came to mind were from ‘Ndawo Yami’, a song my mom used to play a lot during my childhood. I ended up interpolating that song since it was a big inspiration in the creation process,” they said.
With the jumper cable of Lady of the House electrifying them, powering up their career, they divulged some plans for the coming new year, including a forthcoming extended play accompanied by some singles.
“I’ve already finished up work on my EP that will be dropping in the beginning of next year. I’ll be releasing more singles leading up to it, and I think Lady of the House was a good platform for me to jumpstart my career so that people can see that I’m now putting myself out there and taking myself seriously. So everything you’ll be hearing—original beats, original music—is stuff I’ve been putting together in my bedroom for the past year. On top of dropping some visuals before closing 2025, I see myself in local stages, sharing my sounds and being in events to share my stories through music,” they said.
Lu-Zer | SUPPLIED
Inspired by artists such as Kelela and Liv.e as well as Zamajobe, Lu-Zer shared some details on what kind of themes will be found in the album.
“The music that will be in the album will be addressing a lot of grief and heartbreak and moving forward, ‘cause I also did find myself getting out of a three-year relationship shortly after my mother’s passing. That was a life-changing experience for me, and music was the only way I could get through it and to share what I experienced while I was in that relationship and also while I was processing the grief. So I wanted to help people who might’ve been going through something similar, or going through heartbreak but want to dance or cry through it. There’s a song in there for everyone,” they said.
An artistic contrarian, Lu-Zer expressed their desire to be a non-comformist and to be a liberating model of what artistry should be—a thing that is not defined and constrained by labels.
“The biggest impact I’d love to leave in the industry is not to box people in a certain niche or genre. One of my greatest fears as an artist—even with winning the competition—is being labelled as an artist who makes a certain type of sound because that’s what I became known for. I want to break that and allow people to create whatever they want to create and for a certain fanbase to not lose love for an artist just because they don’t make the same kind of music they used to make back in the day. I wanna keep people open-minded when it comes to creation because at the end of the day, we are creating to create and not to fit in a box because a label said so or because that’s what’s expected of them,” they said.
Lu-Zer | Credit: @kae.woe
Lu-Zer talked about some genres they wished to dive into someday.
“I’d love to tap into a bit of rock, some hip-hop, and some more R&B in the future. I also do think of experimenting on electronic beats and I’m also open to Afro-centered sounds. So there’s quite a lot I’d love to experiment on in the future,” they said.
The genre-bender gave insight into how they come up with original ideas and music.
“I love staying to myself, and I tend to take a break from other people’s music just to isolate myself so that I can see what I can come up with originally. Sometimes when I’m toying with an instrument, I tend to mould something from a whole lot of different genres. So when I create music, I never think of a genre, I just make whatever sounds good to me with the knowledge that there will at least be one person out there who will resonate with what they wish to hear. If it fits into a genre, then it fits into a genre, but that’s never my aim. Because of that kind of thinking, I believe I keep evolving musically, and I also think that’s how people end up even pioneering new sounds and sub-genres that have never been heard before,” they said.
Lu-Zer | Credit: Instagram
They opened up about the hopes they had for themself.
“I have pretty big ambitions. I see myself on international stages, and I think I’ve started off well and the competition was the biggest indicator that I can achieve my dreams. So, I see myself on big stages, accepting big awards for my music and going very far in the business,” they said.
