Platinumb Heart Beating

Platinumb Heart: Beating, a companion offering to singer-songwriter Msaki’s Platinumb Heart: Open album, ventures into the electronic music sphere with dance at the core of its essence. “Music has dissolved for me... into one big thing,” Msaki tells Apple Music. “I'm discovering all these parts of myself and they come together to make one. I'm seeing myself as a common denominator in situations and that's helping me understand what I can contribute to this landscape and to the South African songbook.” Renowned for crafting poignant folk tales, this sophomore release formalises her foray into house music alongside a vast array of collaborators including Simmy, Laliboi, Nonku Phiri, Focalistic and TRESOR. “This genre-bending thing happens when you just love music,” she says. “I can go on two chords; my soul will have somewhere to go and my words will have somewhere to live.” Providing a synthesis between the worlds she occupies, Msaki ponders the paradox of falling in love on “Chem Trails,” homecoming on “Mntakababa” and energised protest on “Statues”. She talks us through the themes of the album below.
The House That Was Built “I have such a history with house music. When I was in boarding school I used to save my pocket money and go buy the latest Oskido's Church Grooves on the weekend. I’d share that with my brother and other artists like Revolution, DJ Bubbles, Bob Sinclair and Swedish House Mafia. I started getting into house ‘cause it was cool, but I got interested in what was going on sonically, behind the music. I started trying to understand what people were sampling and why some of it had jazz in it. That's been a big part of discovering other catalogues of music. [I didn’t] really see myself as a person who would make my own house music; I was invited through collaboration. My participation started song by song and invitation by invitation for me to be like, 'Oh I'm actually part of the genre now'... I can shape its present and its future and also enjoy its evolution. Generally, I’m a fan of electronic dance music, and I'm interested in what South Africa has to say to the rest of the world about it.”
The Makings Of An Electronic Album “When the electronic album idea came about, it was because I was building up such a catalogue with all the collaborations. I felt like I actually wanted to do my own thing along with a theme. I had this conversation with Neo Muyanga a good four years ago, so it's a lot of information we're condensing into eighteen songs. I knew I had some beats I wanted to work on ‘cause people had been sending me things, and they'd been circulating in my mind. I've got some stuff in my poetry book and some journal entries but the synthesis of the songs—actually sitting, listening to beats and writing—happened within a couple of weeks. To feel that finality, that it's time to share after working on it for so long, has been unreal!”
The Defiant Dance “My first working title was Platinumb Heart: Of Love and Protest. It started out as a protest album, and then creeped in some love songs. The dance side of it became really integral when I realised that black joy, being able to rejoice and—for your own mental health—going to have fun are forms of protest as well. The conviction to do a dance album came with that. There's an imperative part of moving along with trauma and still being able to find time for enjoyment. I don't think I'm the person to just share the acid. Even though I do think it's important for me to go there, I can't help but encourage. That's the thread through my music: encouragement. If I can keep that thread, then I'll be true to my core message.”
The Space To Create “Collaboration is becoming a very important part of my artistry. I think I have a duty and role to encourage, within the music community… to make space for my collaborators in the musical sense: give them structure but let them improvise and make sure they have space to create and also space to follow. Collaboration is a beautiful way to do that because it’s the one time you can look at what makes the other artist unique, and find a way to celebrate it. The cool thing about approaching collaboration with that mindset is that everybody's strengths come through. It's really cool to be able to say, ‘This is what I like about Da Capo's drums and I want that to shine’. If I want to highlight that person's strengths, and vice versa, we're probably going to have the strongest song possible. A lot of the collabs I've worked out are with people I wouldn't mind spending time with; people I'd still choose outside of working on music. That’s usually because of other affinities, and the music is a byproduct of being willing to share space and be in the same atmosphere.”
The Agony and Blissfulness Love “I love the idea of being real with the pain, going there and dealing with it. We don't always have the courage to, which is why I write some songs to give myself that. Other than being an extremely hopeful romantic, I think it’s important to really enjoy the full spectrum of the opposite feeling—euphoria and love, even if it’s agonising. A song like “Chem Trails” is about falling in love but it sounds painful. It's like, falling helplessly in love and feeling like there's a foreign substance in your body while the dopamine and oxytocin is having its way with you. You can't get to sleep ‘cause of the chemicals in your body: your environment is a mess! So falling in love is a mess, but it's one of the most beautiful things of being alive… surrendering to that feeling even though it's agony and bliss at the same time. Whether you acknowledge it or not, tell the other person or not... you're the site of the chemicals. The chemtrails are in your veins and there's nothing you can do about it. It’s something to celebrate and be in awe of: how much more alive can you feel! Also, love is just breathing between the pauses. Between the moments when you're living, protesting and marching that’s what’s carrying you through. To still be able to love in those instances is the biggest form of protest because you're saying ‘I'm human, I'm breathing and I'm doing what you do’. This is what connects us all, so the love songs are the balance for the acid.”
The Building Of Bridges “‘Kuja Utanipata’ is a beautiful phrase in Swahili meaning 'come and you will find me'. I've been trying to learn to sing in Swahili for years now. I'm in love with the language ‘cause it's so close to so many languages that link us all. I love East Africa and I think there's been so much warmth there. They know our songs, they've invited us over and embraced our music—especially our electronic dance scene. My gift, when I first went to Nairobi, was discovering such incredible folk musicians—people that sing, play guitar and are incredible composers and storytellers. Even though I knew it was a very rich landscape for that, I wasn't expecting to meet and connect with so many people. This is just a love letter to them, trying to create some bridges for them to get as much love on this side. I'm really trying to make an intentional electronic dance project with them, so this was just a song to send them some love as well.”
The Preservation of Culture “We think that songs arrive and that they're born in a moment where artists connect to an unseen world, but some songs precede us and some songs we're continuing. There's a sensitive beginning and a sensitive origin. We've received our cultural heritage, so how do we continue the sounds our elders are giving us, that other places in the world don't have? How do we value that and honour them for giving that gift to us? We're trying to be a bit more self-sufficient and also avoid some of the things that happened to us in terms of erasure. Like on “Ndizincamile,” Laliboi is just genius. He dropped in so many little gems and threw in the name of the actress from a series [Linempoxo Ke Isiko] we used to watch when we were kids. That’s where the melody I use on the chorus comes from! I have a really great respect for his artistry ‘cause he's so switched onto intentionally preserving his language and culture. I really respect that about him because I'm interested in preserving the soul of the song... for myself and for others.”