Nipho & Sophiatown Get Us Winter Ready With ‘Warm Skies’
In the true cheerful spirit of our Southern community exemplified, Actor, Singer & Songwriter Nipho collaborates with Sophiatown for another joint tribute of art – Warm Skies. Hailing all the way from Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, Nipho Mkhize blends his upbringing in church with cultural variety in this picker upper and as a proud South African, I really enjoyed this one!
Music had always been a saving grace for Nipho, especially through battles of depression and reconciling trauma. Strumming away in the streets, this music video captures the diversity in religion, age, tribe and even sports as our national teams’ colours pop up every now and then by way of grading, style choices and the redefinition of the word “rural”.
On culture, Nipho says “Whether you’re driving down Camps Bay with a glorious African sunset in view or you’re at a late afternoon braai in Soweto – arguing and debating over the football – or singing our national anthem amongst thousands of Springbok fans – determined to drown out and defuse the fierce New Zealand “Hakka”; these are some of the things that make us South Africans. These are some of the things that we ought to be proud of and grateful for. We need to strive for these things and let them inspire us to better our country and better ourselves.
From interviews with Live Wire’s Phil Ray to having tracks rotating all around European radio, Nipho & Sophiatown are always on the road, with another performance at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown this July!
“Warm Skies is the most honest and genuine way I could express the love I have for the place I come from. It’s a feel good song about the land that millions of South Africans and I call home...
As I shifted my focus and perspective I found myself gravitating towards the things that make us strong as a country – our heritage, our culture, our diversity, our resilience and our uniqueness. When you take that all in, you realise that we’re a living, breathing miracle as a country. We’re maybe deformed in some areas but alive and breathing with vibrancy, colour, beauty and a contagious hope birthed by the heroes that have gone before us.
– Nipho Mkhize
Find their next moves on Facebook or Instagram and groves on Soundcloud because this fun tune has surely brightened our Winter season.