Jabulile Majola: Isitifikethi

Jabulile Majola’s debut album, Isitifiketi by independent record label Quiet Life Co., sounds like folktales around a campfire. Isitifiketi is the isiZulu word for “certificate”, and Majola uses it to reference his birth certificate. There could not have been a more appropriate title, as he uses the album to walk us through themes of memory, faith, love, and loss, chronicling his inner life in the same way a birth certificate stores one’s identity.

(Album Cover)

In keeping with traditional folk music, Majola hands us a series of isiZulu ballads with feathery falsettos and simple arrangements often consisting of a single guitar. 

While he tells his stories, the harmonic vocals in songs like Amagugu (Precious Things) take the place of the listener and vice versa, making us feel as though we are in conversation with him. We are not only hearing his stories but are reacting to them and at times even telling them with him. 

Depending on where you are in life, different tracks will resonate with you, but I have a crush. As such, Woza Mntana (Come, Child) is my current favourite. Briefly switching from isiZulu to English, the song ends with the refrain of “Come, come, let me give you my love.” Majola is successful in creating the imagery of a person holding their heart, or at least its glowy essence, out in their hands as a gift. Woza Mntana is not a command but a plea: “[please] come, let me give you my love.” 

Another favourite is Isineke (Patience), whose refrain says “mina ng’cela kungabi noyedwa ofela ngaphakathi” ([please] let nobody (not a single one) die inside). This patience is not passive; it is not the experience of simply waiting out unpleasant experiences. Instead, it is sacrificial: I will do what I can to make sure you don’t die inside.

Isitifiketi is a museum, not only of Majola’s experiences, but of the human condition. Even though the entire project is in isiZulu, you don’t need to understand the language to understand the music. Simply allow the campfire arrangements and whiny, pleading vocals to carry you through.

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By Tatenda Dlali

The Climate Department