She wrote her latest song, Nomalanga after her mom called her to let her know that her sister was not home. The song is about her begging her sister to return home. 1st Lady K, real name Khanyisa Clementine Mabasa (25) was inspired to write about the incident as a way of comforting herself. “I wrote the song saying that liyashona ilanga (The sun is setting) and you have not arrived,” 1st Lady K says.
All her music has significant meaning for her; whether spiritual or to raise awareness, she writes most of her music from personal experiences and those around her. Raised in Mpumalanga and Pretoria, 1st Lady K became a qualified sangoma at 15 years old and dropped out of school in Grade 11 to focus on her calling. 1st Lady K has spent years working on her craft behind the scenes, which balances spirituality, and feels it is not time to share with the world, the years of hard work in the studio. She chose the name 1st Lady K as she believes she is not the leading lady in the game, and she aims to be at the top. “I love being number one and being at the top. I am my competition, and K is from the first letter of my name Khanyisa.”
1st Lady K started making music at church and then moved on to be a backing vocalist for various artists. She first held the mic at church when visiting a friend’s church. Coming from a lineage of izangoma and healers, she did not spend a lot of time at church but sang during spiritual gatherings at her home where they used and trained izangoma initiates. “My mom can also sing really well, but never pursued the career professionally.” At 16 years old, 1st Lady K auditioned for Idols SA but her journey was short-lived due to age. “We come from a thwasa home. Butt we have an initiation school at home. I am a sangoma full time. I however don’t wear beads because of my singing career but I do when I am at home,”1st Lady says. I don’t know why I don’t wear beads. I feel I need to respect idlozi lam.” The Civil Engineering dropout has dabbled in other industries, and worked as a packer for three retail companies before accepting that singing is her calling.”
