“Give You Love”, a single by Namibian Nita Shikongo (27), also known as SheCantGo, is a refreshing tune with soul and amapiano influences, and a captivating music video on Youtube.
The release of the single was much anticipated among fans of the creative, who has built her name as a prolific spoken word artist, performing at several live shows and having been featured by local musician Gazza in the past.
The single, with its memorable melody, is described as sensual, and speaks about giving your love to someone your love.
SheCantGo was born and raised in Windhoek, having spent some of her formative years living abroad in the United Kingdom (UK), as well as Malaysia, before settling back home.
Currently, she works in communication and marketing, focusing mainly on creative concepts and brand strategising, while also being a passionate writer, singer, creative director and ‘semi-retired’ photographer.
She explains that her area of expertise lies in creating something from nothing.
As a creative person, SheCantGo especially loved writing growing up.
“I’ve always had a very close-knit relationship with music and art since I was young. When I was living in the UK, we had poetry and literature as one of our subjects and we’d always be encouraged to write in particular thematic areas with different writing styles. I took it beyond the classroom and I would always be writing,” she says of a time when she expressed herself by filling up journals and penning jingles to keep herself busy.
This led to her starting her own poetry blog, where she would share her work and eventually took to the spoken word stage.
SheCantGo garnered a name for herself as an orator, and with a little nudging from close friends and producer DJ Shoza and singer Jeiyo, she jumped into the studio to embark on her musical journey.
“They’ve always been forcing me to take this seriously. They’re like ‘no you’re so talented, why would you not want to get into a studio?’ but I think I just wasn’t ready and I think our relationship had to grow,” she says, comparing the feeling to being a “kid in a candy store.”
The track she ended up producing contains many elements she relates to, and says that though she is still in the process of really cultivating her own sound, she generally gravitates towards RnB and pop, as well as her new love, deep house.
She cites artists like Whitney Houston and Brian Adams as some of the influences.
“With anything that I create or anything that I decide to share I want to make sure that it means something to somebody in whatever way they interpret it,” she says of the single.
After hearing the DJ Shoza-produced beat for the first time two years ago, SheCantGo took her time to write the lyrics and record something she was proud of.
Accompanying the track is a music video that came to her in a dream.
Once she had figured out what she wanted it to look like, she assembled a team she says worked together well and almost symbiotically, to bring her vision to life in the form of a flowy dress, desert sand and beautiful beach scenes.
She expresses gratitude for the crew, which included director of photography and editor Shilli Munyama.
“I think it was pretty well received. I’m overwhelmed, because I don’t particularly know what I was expecting, because with a new art formation and sharing new bodies of work, you can never predict how people will feel, but I’m pretty happy with the reception we’ve had so far,” she says.
Her plans for the future of her career are tentative, which fills her with optimism at the prospect of releasing more singles, growing her craft and connecting with other creatives.
“I have so much to learn and I’m just excited by that prospect alone, but also to learn from others and collaborate more,” she says, describing the next steps of her journey as being similar to a chef developing dishes and seeing what diners like or don’t.
For now, she is grateful to God and excited to take a shot at putting Namibia on the map.
- Anne Hambuda is a poet, writer and social commentator. Follow her online or email her annehambuda@gmail.com for more.
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