South Africa-born Nakhane is one of the most exciting new faces in the music right now! After a brilliant role in the movie Inxeba (The Wound), the one who left religion to freely express his sexuality, just released his second album You Will Not Die via BMG. We met him in Paris for a quick chat to discuss sex, the influence his mum had on his music, and the new release that he considers to be the best thing he ever has done!

Hi Nakhane, what about this new era? All your new songs seem to be totally different from your previous album.

Yes, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to write a good song. When creating this project I realized that I don’t really fit in an industry but more in an art scene. For me writing a song now means to provoke feelings in the listener, I’ve done a lot of research about creating something logical, about the production and musical structure.

In all your videos and visuals you seem to really feel comfortable about your sexuality. Do you feel like the sexual freedom is becoming a standard in the pop music?

My sexuality is a big part of my life. When I was younger, I was thinking that I just wanna have sex every time *laughs. But you know, honestly, sexuality plays a big role in our world. We exist because two humans decided to fuck back in the days*laughs. We don’t need to feel ashamed about our sexuality, as it’s our most natural right.

And your video for Clairvoyant, it’s terribly sexy…

I wanted to make a video with real parts of my life. For example, all the books and furniture came from my own house, that was very important having pieces of me in this video. I didn’t want to have a lot of make-up, I wanted to be natural. It’s not a glamorous video, it’s about a couple being themselves, loving each other, fucking, beating, being distant and insecure. Especially when it comes to black queer people, and there’s still a big void in the pop music in that sense.

You also played in the movie Inxeba (The Wound) which was well acclaimed by the critics, how do you deal being a musician and an actor?

I didn’t plan to make all those things even if I studied it long ago. When I was 11, my mum asked me about I wanted to be when I grow up and I said: “I wanna be an artist !”. At that point, I already knew that music was going to be a big part of my life since almost everyone in my family is a musician. Everything happened so quickly, and I’m still surprised about it and I’m grateful that I can do what I was dreaming about when I was a child!

“We exist because two humans decided

to fuck back in the days.”

What about your new record You Will Not Die?

I’m really excited about this album. It’s the best thing I’ve done so far! My producer and I worked so hard on it and we are very proud of the final result. It was influenced by my childhood and the music I was listening to back then. There’s a lot of choral and gospel melodies with soul influences as my mother loves Marvin Gaye. This album also revisits some traumatic periods in my life, like leaving the church for example, which was pretty hard but it gave me freedom!

What do you think about the gay scene in pop music?

The Queer scene is becoming so interesting! Even in South Africa, people are just doing what they want, they don’t give a fuck. The internet is very liberating in that sense, as there’s less pressure from record companies! It’s so great to have such iconic artists like Frank Ocean and Mikki Blanco flourishing and pushing boundaries.

What is the role of fashion in your art?

When I was younger, all I wanted is to be like my mother! My mum and I are basically the same people! My mum knew how to dress and she was so elegant, she’s my fashion icon!