Vuyo Renene on 'Success' in South Africa's Music Industry & the Creative Arts

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/289021373" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]Just a few days ago, Vuyo Renene dropped the visuals for her November single “Hi.” I spent  my childhood years dancing and singing along to great music with family. Vuyo Renene, Eastern Cape native, was doing the same thing in the late 90s. Even though she is studying a BComm Law degree at the Varsity College (CPT), Vuyo hopes to be South Africa’s next best performer. Vuyo’s road to becoming a performance artist only began in 2015, but she is excited for everything yet to come. With visuals lending themselves to the air of mystery about her, Vuyo is inspired, hopeful, and wary of South Africa’s music industry.

From lip syncing to the real thing

As a little girl, Vuyo lip synced to Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” in 2003 and knew that she wanted to be an artist. As a child she didn’t think about how big of an artist she would be, but she “loved the energetic feeling" she gave the people watching her.Since then, Vuyo performed for her biggest crowd yet at the Mother City Live festival this past November. Leading up to her performance, she documented her journey in a two part Youtube series called "Road to MCL". Vuyo does an impeccable job at documenting her creative process. “I have so much fun with [behind the scenes visuals] because it makes the people who listen to your music part of the process,” she says.With her goal being telling stories through her music, Vuyo feels like visuals are the next logical step for musicians.

“Success for me is having successful tours” Vuyo says. She set the goal of truly entertaining, not just singing for, her viewers at her Mother City Live set and believes she met the goal. Vuyo wants to show the world her diversity as an artist and set herself apart as a musician who sings but also entertains. With time and investment, Vuyo hopes that there will be more encouragement for the arts overall. Living off one’s art is important, but for Vuyo it is also crucial that art gets respect. Thus success can only happen when the arts are taken seriously. “We need artists just as much as we need lawyers and doctors,” Vuyo confesses.Watch the video for Vuyo's single "Hi" and let us know what you think in the comments section...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9tFBg2yNFk