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PILANI BUBU

Indelible Storyteller

Multifarious artist, multi-award-winning storyteller, singer-songwriter, television host, interior design expert, creative entrepreneur, founder and curator of the Folklore Festival.ZA.

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DISCOGRAPHY

Album Narratives & Press Releases

Immerse yourself into the intriguing world of ‘Indelible Storyteller’ - Pilani Bubu, with a musicality & craftmanship that knows no bounds as she effortlessly weaves together jazz, folk, soul, RnB & electronic sounds often interweaved with poetry, spoken word and sometimes rap, showcasing her versatile artistry. Each album takes listeners on a unique & original journey through her own lived experience.

It is encouraged that you navigate bookings and performances with the album by album story, style & sonic landscapes in mind.

Each project appeals to a certain mood and genre & talks to various themes. Here is the repertoire.

Afro-Oriental Jazz Rock

Social Justice through a feminist lens

Marthe and Pilani Bubu unveil 'Nay' Indaba', the first joint album by the French trans-oriental jazz-rock collective. . A sonic odyssey through South Africa, telling a story of its history and cultures through the prism of strong women. Reflecting on the last 30 years of Democracy. Over the course of the album's eight tracks, It explores in depth South Africa's complex history and social ills & shares a positive story of the ongoing struggle against inequality, youth unemployment and poverty, and advocates for the progress and success of previously disadvantaged black people. Rooted in the magnetic atmosphere and memories of this country, the result is a musicality that is both psychedelic and ferocious.

Folklore Chapter 2 - Album Cover- Final.png

Afro Folk

African Spirituality

"This album explores how the African Child aligns with their purpose and calling in communion and consent with our ancestors. Exploring rites of passage, rituals, gifts and inheritances that begin the journey of manifesting our dreams. African Spirituality as a guide to the continuation of lineage. As a child of the ancestors of dreams (Umntan'eThongo), like most of my visions, this album wrote itself in dreamscapes. I think it was fit, before we continue exploring the next chapters of the Folklore album series, I wanted to share my journey of initiation and becoming in parallel. To bring you into my purpose and how I am working toward my own alignment in the this work as a healer and a teacher who intuits and channels. Whatever that is personal is public they say. It is that part that heals us through revelation and others through resonance. Folklore Chapter 2: Ekuseni is personal yet universal"

New Age RnB

The beginning to the end of a lovestory

Lockdown Lovestory, was written, and recorded in the height of the pandemic, in real time as this story unfolded for Pilani during her time in quarantine, in the unprecedented hard lockdown of March – August 2020, in South Africa. The levels from 5 - 1, were real markers in the chapters of her life and this love story. Based on her own lived experience, the music is inspired by the journey she takes in a long distance and virtual relationship, exploring the nuances of the loneliness and yearning presented by this circumstance. She explores the feelings of fantasy and nostalgia packaged in Nu-RnB

an ode to 90’s- 2000's teen nostalgia in the music production as well as the visual storytelling.

Marked by beautiful melodies, cohesively held by her love for vocal harmony and rhythmic guitars. She also goes layers deep with the use of vintage mics, FX, synths, and rhodes

Afro Folk

Cultural Constructs & Folk Tales

In this album,I dug deep into her roots, to tell her story of identity, tradition and culture. She shares stories of South African people in the ancient and modern social context, sparking thought provoking conversations about men, women, and children. The music is interwoven with poetry and spoken word, re-interpreting our folklore for the next generation.

Folklore is the collective documentation of culture passed through the generations by word of mouth. Made up of an expressive body of work in various art forms. With this project, she seeks to build a community dedicated to restoring, preserving, and documenting our culture through storytelling for future generations. Taking inspiration by learning our traditional folk music, our language and writing styles, and bringing it into her own music.

Afro Beats

Self Introspection

Konke! Meaning Everything! Everything that brought two artist together at Supersonic Studios: A collaborative journey of vulnerability, empowerment, and artistic revelation.

Over 2 years, Pilani Bubu and Afronautiq have collaborative sessions in Nairobi Kenya’s prestigious studios: Supersonic Studio. These encounters filled with deep downloads, exploring strong moments of vulnerability and empowering conversations, delving into their artistic paths. Giving everything to their craft, their lives, their loves, and ultimately discovering that the very act of creation is both a taking and a giving. Giving everything in this process, the project Konke was an organic birth of songs. This artistic union has almost been a cathartic exercise, Getting deep into their inner worlds, their fears and their fight for love, for recognition and reward.

Soul Jazz & Funk

The pursuit and power of passion

When Pilani quit her corporate job in 2011, she wanted to pursue all her passions. Music being her first love. This album road itself as this bohemian soon to be nomadic singer, explored her music and craft in her travels.

From New Orleans, that birthed the song 'Music Love', to the South of France, camped out in the Pyrenees that birthed the songs Sweet Love, Promised Land, to walking the streets of Dublin re-defining her own sense of Home, and unpacking what it feels like to find love, light and heaven right here on earth.

She was finally living her dreams and sharing her journey in the pursuit of her purpose and calling. An album that expresses courage and freedom that all emerging artists seek.

Pop

The dualities of life through heartbreak

"Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."

- Kahlil Gibran

We break so that the light can seep in. In this EP, The catalyst to my journey of pursuing my passions and music my first love, was a heartbreak.

A bittersweet love story of how 'Heartache is always Relevant', and disappointment can help you navigate a route to self, through vulnerability,.

Classical Mini Orchestra

Human Rights, Womens Rights

Pilani Bubu collaborates with Maya Angelou's estate to bring the poem 'Still I Rise' stanza to verse. In an original music composition by the singer when she was thirteen years old.

It took 23 years for her to feel compelled to record it. in 2020 during the global pandemic, the escalated rise of femicide in South Africa and the devastating cases of police violence on African Americans with Black Lives Matter... propelled the singer to finally express and record this musical piece.

It has been reserved as exclusive performance for streaming. It debut for the first time at the Nelson Mandela Foundation Annual Lecture on Mandela Day. The live orchestra is available for bookings at impact driven humanitarian events.

BIOGRAPHY

Pilani Bubu, a singer-songwriter, TV presenter, and creative entrepreneur extraordinaire. For the past decade, Pilani has graced the global stage, captivating audiences with her enchanting melodies, astonishing vibrato and meaningful lyrics. With a pure & unique voice, a great sense of clarity that heals & resonates with deep intentionality, Pilani has independently produced and released five albums, whose storytelling narratives are in a league of their own. From the heartfelt melodies of ‘Journey of a Heart (2012)’ to the empowering funky rhythms of ‘Warrior of Light (2016)’, and the nostalgic African folk tales of ‘Folklore Chapter 1(2019)’. Her music transcends mere entertainment—it is an expedition through the very essence of existence.

Even with the chaos of a global pandemic, Pilani's unyielding creative spirit, she released ‘Lockdown Lovestory (2022)’ a remarkable & cathartic album that captured the essence of love amidst uncertain times, providing a space for reflection and reconciliation for her fans. Followed by her collaborative album ‘Konke (2023)’ , exploring her own artist journey and creative pursuits and how these affect her ‘inner world’. The album in collaboration with Kenyan producer AfroNautiq features producers who contributed to painting both the dark and light moments of the self-enquiring & self-motivating intimacy of the album. And now, with her latest offering, "Folklore Chapter 2," she delves even deeper into ancient wisdom, sharing a personal story of her ancestors, their rituals, her rites, their gifts, her inheritances, and the relationship there between. Conjuring melodies that transport listeners to the ethereal realms of African spirituality.

Pilani's commendable musicality has garnered her recognition, including the prestigious accolade of Best African Adult Contemporary Album at the South African Music Awards in 2020 for "Folklore Chapter 1." She continues to push boundaries and expand her artistic endeavours, recently launching the Folklore Festival—a magnificent celebration of heritage, culture and creativity held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2022.

A true collaborator driven by passion and purpose into all that she does, Pilani has collaborated with the esteemed Caged Bird Legacy LLC, entrusted with the lyrical interpretation of Maya Angelou's profound poetry in her transcendent song, "Hopes Springing High, Still I Rise." This remarkable project, supported and funded by the SAMRO Foundation, SAMPRA, Sheer Publishing, and Downtown Publishers.

Not stopping there, Pilani's music has resonated globally, securing synchronization rights for her songs Abantwana (produced with Blick Bassy & Romain Jovion) and ‘Ufuna Bani’ (produced by Afronautiq) in the South African Netflix Series, "The Brave Ones. Where enchanting melodies intertwined seamlessly with the visual narrative. She also embarked on a mesmerizing collaboration with the talented Blick Bassy, lending her captivating vocals to his sensational spectacle, "Bikutsi 3000." Furthermore.

Her artistry extends beyond the realm of music, beyond her musical exploits, Pilani has cemented her status as a creative entrepreneur. Her creative consulting compay Bupila* is becoming a beacon of success, not only as the producer of the Folklore Festival but earning two prestigious Loeries awards with client campaigns led by Pilani — at the biggest advertising awards in Africa and the Middle East. Her strategic and creative strength shone through in her work on a Human Rights Campaign for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, for which she was honored with a Loeries Bronze trophy in 2021. Additionally, her campaign approach in the Nedbank Beke Le Beke campaign garnered a bronze Loeries award in 2022, further solidifying her trajectory as an innovative force to be reckoned with.

Pilani Bubu's number one desire is to leave an indelible mark on everything she does, and everywhere she goes.

PRESS QUOTES

"The singer publishes the album Folklore: Chapter 1, a poetic and militant chronicle of South African society served by timeless folk music"

- FIP (FR)

"In this first album, the South African singer recounts her cultures and her roots within a folk music inhabited by poetry and spoken-word"

- NOVA (FR)

“Pilani Bubu stands out as a complete artist”

- FRANCE INTER (FR)

"Folklore Chapter 1: the first part of a fusion as stripped down as it is promising"

- TELERAMA SORTIR (FR)

“She sings with a clear voice – and sometimes slams – her own texts in Xhosa, Mpondo, Zulu and English”

- LE MONDE (FR)

"His introductory disc insists on the strength of traditions and the place of women in his native country"

- RFI (FR)

“Pilani Bubu's song is auroral. It evokes the purity of the first morning of the world »

- AMINA (FR)

"A magnificent discovery, truly original, with a remarkable touch to combine with its folk and its astonishing vibrato with atmospheres alternately jazz-world, trad', soul-pop and afro, where very urban with these numerous and percussive spoken words which borrow from hip hop and rap.”

- JAZZ-RHONE-ALPES (FR)

“In her latest offering, Lockdown Lovestory, Pilani Bubu unpacks the overwhelming tricks the lustful mind can play when heated and blinded by fantasy and sensual craving… The ambience of déjà vu – rich in onomatopoeia, poetic nuance, sass, and sultry harmonic major scale prowess. The 90s-induced Nu RnB deepened my appreciation for the organic touch delivered through the use of vintage mics, FX instruments, synths, and Rhodes in electronic production.”

– THE MUSIC REVIEW (SA)

“Pilani Bubu is a multi-faceted artist who has established herself as a creative force in South Africa’s music and entertainment industry. She has travelled the world performing and spreading the sounds of jazzy folk that illustrate her pride in her heritage”

- BUBBLE GUM (SA)

“Multifaceted artist Pilani Bubu is …successful and purely authentic… She has mastered the art of jugging time and finances.”

- STAR NEWSPAPER (SA)

“An act that enthralled audiences with her soothing melodies, exceptional vocals and message-laden repertoire is singer-songwriter from South Africa…she shines through with a poignant set of songs with pure grit and talent which inspired head popping and feet tapping from the receptive audience...a feel-good singer with conscious and meaningful lyrics”

- DAILY GRAPHIC (GH)