Red Café was picked out as the meeting place, and wow, what a meeting. Unathi Nkayi, now Unathi Msengana, is not at all what Saskia Kuiper expected: down-to-earth, independent and make-up free
Saskia Kuiper: Do you mind if we take a few photos?
Red Café was picked out as the meeting place, and wow, what a meeting. Unathi Nkayi, now Unathi Msengana, is not at all what Saskia Kuiper expected: down-to-earth, independent and make-up free
Saskia Kuiper: Do you mind if we take a few photos?
Unathi Msengana: No, no that’s fi ne, as long as people don’t mind my face and my fl u and no make-up. I hate makeup.
I’ve been taught in an interview to make sure I get the interviewee’s name is right. So it’s Unathi Nkayi? It’s Unathi Msengana, thank you. I’m married.
It’s cool that you changed your name, have you changed it everywhere? Yes, everywhere. I get frustrated on his behalf, I feel really bad when people call me Nkayi. He always says, look it’s only been fi ve months. We got married at St Peters and then had the reception at the Monument. It was beautiful, just family and friends.
I was reading an article that said that you once wanted to become the minister of arts and culture. Grahamstown is an artsy town. In Jo’burg kids have to pay to go to skate parks and to graff a wall, or to go to theatre productions. A lot of it is very commerce-based. I really noticed it when went to Jo’burg, and it worried me. I want to be some kind of ambassador on a very heavy level. But I realised you’ve gotta go into politics and I hate politics, so I’m trying to fi nd a different way.
Hopefully you’ll be better by Friday. You’ve just gotta get on stage and do what you’ve gotta do. So I’m gonna drink my honey and tea and clear my sinuses.
The award-winning Victoria Girls’ Choir will accompany you on Friday. Were you in the choir in VG? Ironically no. I was playing hockey and squash, I never had time for choir.
You say you’re very sentimental, does it come through in your music? We open every performance in prayer. I was raised by a Methodist mom and dad, but we also pay tribute to our ancestors. So I go home to Tantyi and speak to my ancestors and tell them that I’m here and ask them to make sure it doesn’t rain [laughs].
Back to music. Oh yes, a lot of my music has to do with love, but not in that disgusting, sloppy, cliché way. My motto is “Live as if you’re about to die, dance like nobody’s watching and love like you’ve never been hurt”. Dive in, be free and just let rip.”
Not to be rude, but you’re not a typical celebrity, you’re just yourself. Ja, women in Jo’burg are manicured, the make-up is immaculate, the lashes are in place and the nails are done. I just can’t do that; I’m a tomboy. But before a performance I love the ritual of doing the hair and the styling.
Is your husband Thomas here with you? Yes he is, he’s the creative designer. Before the wedding he was saying “You’ve never performed in Grahamstown” and I was like “Wow, I’ve never performed in Grahamstown”. And he said “Let’s just do it.” I said “Let’s just wait for Festival and see if they ask us”, but he just said “We are going to make this happen”, and he put it together.
And the children, are they here? You have two? Yes, two. I’ve got one and he’s got one. The kids are great. Sinako is 5 and Nelly is 7.
Okay. Now what kind of grandmother would you like to be? I want to be cool. They must tell me things they don’t tell their own parents and then I break the news to my children. I’m still going to be having cocktails.
Which three people would you invite to dinner? Gary Gordon who taught me dance. Mahatma Gandhi and Bernie Mac to make me laugh.
Wow three guys, I’m defi nitely a guys kinda girl! Do you write all your own lyrics?
Eighty percent of them I write myself. I also love working with other people though. I love hearing someone else’s soul come through me.
What’s the public life like? You just have to be disciplined. We got offered half a million for our wedding pictures to be published and we refused. Our relationship is not a PR campaign. If you could choose any one to perform with who would it be? A sober Amy Winehouse!
