Interblaktic

“There seems to be a lot of Black people on Mars,” comes the crackling voice of a would-be whiner on the title track of Muzi’s 2021 album, *Interblaktic*. Affectionately nicknamed The Zulu Skywalker, Muzi (real name Muziwakhe McVictor Mazibuko) fuses a passion for space and technology with his African heritage on his fourth LP, which sees him elevate his production game across the board. A play on “intergalactic” and “Black,” the album’s title is indicative of the musical realm in which Muzi exists—one that has pioneered modern African music, one that is optimistic and proud. Here, Muzi talks us through the 16 tracks that make up his epic space opus and lay the foundation of his Afro-nowism cultural aesthetic. **“Interblaktic”** “This was inspired mostly by what I was seeing in my head at a time where it felt like being Black or someone of color wasn’t enough, that we always needed to prove ourselves. And I mean at the time when I was writing it, it was the police shootings and riots, there were LGBTQIA+ issues—all those things were happening, and people were just fighting for the right to just be. So, when I was writing it, I envisioned, ‘What if we went to Mars and we still have these same social issues?’ So, it was just me in my head trying to play with that idea, an idea of going to a utopia of sorts.” **“Come Duze” (feat. Sho Madjozi)** “‘Come Duze’ is about coming closer and wanting someone to be closer to you, but the video starts off with a phrase that means ‘we’re stronger together.’ It\'s ‘coming closer’ with regards to who we are as people—because on the first song, ‘Interblaktic,’ I\'m trying to find the utopia, and then I realize that the actual utopia is here with us. So, that’s why the video doesn’t have me or Sho \[Madjozi\] in it, because I wanted to treat it as if it was archival footage of Tsonga and Venda women dancing, and just keep it at that and treat it as a cultural piece.” **“Zupiter”** “‘Zupiter’ is Jupiter mixed with Zeno, the Z. So, that’s why when it starts, Zeno’s the one that calls me. She’s like, ‘Dada,’ and I’m like, ‘Yebo,’ and then she goes, ‘Eya,’ like it’s her place. I love recording my daughter just randomly, and then taking all these sounds and just trying to make music off it. So, that’s what Zupiter is—that’s Zeno’s planet.” **“Need Dat” (feat. The Temple)** “I’m about Afro-nowism. People always talk about Afrofuturism, that Africans eventually become dope in the future when we look like half-robots or whatever. And for me, it’s almost like there’s still a bridge that needs to be connected where all this music from yesteryear that was amazing but that never got a chance to, I guess, go as global as gqom or amapiano. I think it’s super important for me to put that in my music. My only hope is that people go and search about it, and they find artists, and something happens with that. This is just a thank you to all the shoulders that I stand on, because I used to love \[kwaito\] growing up, and I used to love those happy chords and just having fun. It felt like people weren’t thinking too much, they were feeling everything, and they were just expressing that. And I always want to keep that intact.” **“Juice”** “This is just ultra confidence. It’s ultra uplifting and, obviously, super inspired by Daft Punk, super inspired by Harari and Justice, but also very inspired by ‘Boss Mode’ \[from his 2018 album, *Afrovision*\]. So, that whole idea that I’m going to get what’s for me, I’m going to attract what’s for me, and regardless of what anyone thinks, as long as I do my best, I’ll be fine. It’s just that thing of always following your light, but the way I wanted to approach it was inspired by that bike race in *TRON: Legacy*. I saw it as adrenaline-heavy, positive music.” **“The Traveller” (feat. Deltino Guerreiro)** “I met Deltino Guerreiro in Mozambique three or four years ago at a festival, and I just loved how unique his voice sounded. So, he’s a singer-songwriter, mostly uses guitar, and he just sings these songs about his people and love, and I find his voice so beautiful. So, he did the song, sent me the vocals, and then he had this melody that I thought was so beautiful, and I was like, ‘Please whistle that. Please just whistle that and I’ll use that as the apex or chorus of the song.’ And then it just came out beautifully that way. It also talks about how I’ve had a very nomadic life. Only \[in\] the last three years, I’ve actually settled in one place because of my daughter. But I’ve always traveled, I’ve always sought more; I’ve always sought more knowledge and knowing about music, and knowing about myself, and ‘The Traveller’ speaks on that—that constant journey of finding, redefining yourself.” **“For You” (feat. Espacio Dios)** “There’s this synergy between Espacio and I where I don’t really ever have to explain anything to him, and he never has to explain anything to me when it comes to creativity—it just flows. So, this song is about when you’re with someone, or you’re trying to be with someone, but they have friends around them that are telling them that you’re not good enough, that they deserve better or whatnot. It speaks on the thing of never feeling you’re good enough for someone even though you’re trying your best. It’s heavy subject matter, but Espacio and I are still going to be quirky, it’s going to have a bit of jokes in there, whatever. So, that’s how we approached it, by just having fun.” **“I Like It Like That” (feat. Zeno)** “So, because there’s a performer in Zeno, she’ll do these things, but she won’t tell you when she’s doing them. So, it’s almost a very in-the-moment thing, and I don’t pull out my camera—I just press *record*, and then I catch her saying and singing all these things. For this track, she inspired the melody of that song because she was singing this melody that I ended up using as a bassline of the track. And then, at the end, I just wanted to put a little surprise there, because it’s funny to me that people are going to be like, ‘Oh yeah, when’s Zeno coming through?’ And then, she’s at the literal last few seconds.” **“I Know It”** “People have always tagged \[Canadian DJ and producer\] Kaytranada and I, saying that we should work together. And then, one day, he just randomly followed me, and so I hit him up, and I was like, ‘Yo, you good?’ We started talking, and then we wanted to work together, so we were throwing ideas back and forth, and then he won three Grammys. And then I was like, ‘Oh snap, am I still going to get this?’ And then he was still cool. We did it; it was just organic, very much, ‘Yo, I love what you do and let’s work on something.’ So, he sent me these really good drum patterns that I really loved, and then I just made a whole song around it. I told him that I wanted to talk about internet addiction and getting back into real life, and then talk about my phone as if it’s a girl, and he was cool with that idea.” **“Everyday I Rise”** “The album starts off very confidently; ‘Everyday I Rise’ is where my confidence starts having holes in it. Now I’m trying to lift myself up a little bit, because I’m realizing that I need to get back on my feet. So, it was really cool to write the lyrics that way, and then create this beat that was just this offbeat that had this bounce to it that I really loved. It also has kwaito elements in there, especially in the drop-chorus part of it, with the ‘hey, hey’—that part reminds me very much of Thembi Seete and Lebo Mathosa vibes.” **“1956 Lovin’”** “It’s important for me to incorporate different genres and just try everything. This is one of those songs that reminds me of being in the backseat of a car, and my mom and dad are driving. The year 1956 was when my mom was born; and then the loving part, that’s like a love letter to my mother.” **“Ngawe”** “This song talks about standing your ground. It’s another song that’s a lesson that I learned from my mother—standing your ground, always being true to yourself. As the song progresses, it ends up becoming about women empowerment. I wrote it from my mom’s perspective of how strong she was as a woman in a world that doesn’t favor women, in a world where men are constantly just messed up.” **“Tsi” (feat. Espacio Dios)** “This is a preview to ‘Fool’s Love.’ I can’t wait to see the woman I love, and I’m going to take my last bit of money and fly and go see her. I don’t care what happens. I don’t care what happens between us. It’s fine. It sort of connects with ‘For You’ because there I feel like I’m not enough. Then, in ‘Tsi,’ I’m like, ‘I am enough.’ I’m going to go get you and it’s going to be fine, and we are going to be great together. That happens, I’m happy, and then ‘Fool’s Love’ happens.” **“Fool’s Love” (feat. BlackRose)** “Here, I find out that by the time that I’ve realized how I feel, or how I’m willing to be brave for someone, they’ve moved on. But even if they’ve moved on, I’m still OK with the fact that I tried. ‘Fool’s Love’ means that I’ll still remain a fool for you, regardless of who you’re with. It sort of connects that way. Then, if you go from ‘For You’ to ‘Tsi,’ then into ‘Fool’s Love,’ there’s an ego dying there.” **“Tjuu Wena” (feat. Setso)** “There’s a scene in *300: Rise of an Empire* where Xerxes turns into a God. That scene where he turns gold, the end part of ‘Tjuu Wena’ is me scoring that. Watch that scene again, close your eyes, and listen to it; you sort of see someone emerging from this golden pool and they become this super \[elevated\] version of themselves, like their highest version of themselves. That’s what ‘Tjuu Wena’ is about.” **“Taku”** “‘Taku’ is three steps. It’s not like a four-to-floor sort of normal beat in terms of the cycle of it. It’s very much oriented and rooted in very traditional music. Throughout this whole journey, I thought I was in space and all that stuff, but at the end of the day, the highest version of myself is here at home.”