South African musician Bongeziwe Mabandla has today released a new visual for his track “Masiziyekelele”, taken from his acclaimed 2020 album iimini. The visual was shot in Nirox Scupture Park, situated in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind in North West, Johannesburg. The Park’s arbors, walkways and hilly backdrop have provided a hushed, exquisite context for the performance of one of Mabandla’s most affecting love songs.

Directed and edited by Tiago Correia-Paulo with Rick Joaquim as DOP, the visual enhances the central call of “Masiziyekelele”, which is for two lovers to let everything go and become one. The crunching of gravel underfoot as Mabandla performs and the sound of the abundant birdlife that inhabits Nirox helps elevate the words (“Let’s let ourselves go/Let’s let ourselves go/Until we are one, we are one/Until we are one, we are one”) to create a mesmerising audio-visual experience.

“This is the first time I have produced a visual for my music, and ‘Masiziyekelele’ is also one of my favourite songs from the album,” says Mabandla of his latest creative endeavour.

The visual for “Masiziyekelele” is also the most recent manifestation of the artist’s collaborative work with both Correia-Paulo, who produced iimini, and the multi-award winning Joaquim. The DOP shot Mabandla’s “Bawo Wam”, which was nominated for Music Video of The Year at the 2019 South African Music Awards, as well as “Jikeleza”.