Afro-soul star Donald marks a decade of solo success on stage

As he celebrates a decade as a solo artist in the SA music industry, singer Donald has given fans a look into his past by writing songs about a former love, among other experiences.

The Afro-soul star rose to acclaim after the release of his single, I Deserve, in 2011.

Later, his sophomore album, Train of Love, cemented his name on the SA wall of fame.

Since the release of I Deserve, Donald Moatshe, 34, has become known for creating some of SA’s most unforgettable love anthems.

He is on a tour of the Eastern Cape to promote his latest album, Her Name Is?

On the 10th anniversary of his solo career, Moatshe continues to tap into fans’ emotions, this time with stories from a past, lengthy romantic relationship.

“Most of what I sing about in Her Name Is? is inspired by my ex-girlfriend, about whom I have written most of the songs in my career.

“This album is my way of rounding up and letting go of a relationship that went through all ups and downs for many years.

“This is definitely closure for me,” Moatshe said.

He may have been singing and writing music for as long as he can remember, but the muso struggled to get his head around the desired outcome of the complete project.

“The making of this album was slightly harder than all the other albums I’ve done, because having done this for as long as I have, it was a challenge for me to find where to go with the sound as far as I felt people wanted to hear from me,” he said.

“I had to think of a lot of aspects that would make it what it is, but what I really wanted to do was to embrace what I was feeling at the time.”

Her Name Is? is a 20-track double disc of multiple genres in Xhosa, Tswana, Zulu and English.

“At the early stages, I didn’t even know what genre the album would be, but I eventually decided I’d give people what they are kind of used to – vocal house – and also give them the more South African love songs in multiple languages, which is something I’ve never really given to the market before,” he said.

The Tswana star said he had challenged himself to learn Xhosa and become fluent enough to deliver the songs Ixesha and Thixo.

“I challenged myself a lot and it made me feel good because, at the end of the day, I am South African and throughout the years of my career I have come to learn that I can sing in any genre or language and make it sound as authentic as possible,” he said.

Fitting well into the album’s narrative of the past, Moatshe has chosen a photograph of his 14-year-old self as the album cover.

He labels it the most meaningful album cover of his career.

At the time the picture was taken, he was in grade 8 at St Dominic’s Private School in Rustenburg.

“It explains the kind of space I had to tap into when I wrote this album – the younger Donald.

“I wasn’t in my happiest or most comfortable space when I did this album and I had to dig into who I was before that.

“And when I look at the younger Donald I remember a time when I was really discovering music.

“I used to sing in school and every time I sang it was always a special moment.

“The way people would treat me after singing was the only time I felt special,” he said.

Moatshe was often bullied at school, he said.

“I never belonged to any group – I just had a friend or two and the only time I ever got any attention was when I sang,” he said.

“The past 10 years have been bliss, especially looking at how my relationship with my fans has grown.”

Her Name Is? was released in September and is available in most music stores and on digital music platforms.