The effervescent energy emitted by the Shaka Ilembe actors begins to fizzle out and calm is restored to the studio in Doornfontein, Joburg.

The stylist’s wardrobe curation is laid out, metallic chains and eye-catching crystals glitter on the coffee table, ready to adorn the supernova whose name is on everyone’s lips and up on the jumbotrons in Times Square, New York City.

“Why are you guys playing my song?” asks Sio on her arrival, pleasantly surprised about the playlist. The 31-year-old songbird, born Siobhan Lulama King in Ennerdale, Joburg, arrives on set a day after she was featured on a billboard lighting up Times Square, where she shone as Spotify’s EQUAL artist.

Last month, the giant streaming platform selected Sio to join its career-catapulting EQUAL programme, in which a cross-section of female African artists are given the tools to advance their careers. “Sio’s effortless contribution to several genres has put her in a class of great contemporary African artists actively creating on the continent today,” says Spotify’s head of music for sub-Saharan Africa, Phiona Okumu, adding that she is a welcome breath of fresh air.

Commenting on her billboard debut, Sio gives a genuine South African response “Like, yoh! That was a nutter! I was pinching myself at how big it was. I’m still trying to catch up. I’m honoured that they [Spotify] took the time to look at my music and liked what I had to say,” she says. The opportunity has opened doors to a global audience.

“It’s changed my numbers and my streaming numbers entirely, almost tripling my following on almost all of my social-media platforms,” she says. “It has also opened me to a different audience. The people streaming my music now are largely Americans. Since that announcement and seeing that billboard, it’s just been so many blessings on blessings.”

In Mzansi, Sio appreciates the praise from fans and fellow musicians, the growth in support, and the growing number of gigs. “I don’t know what it is about the world, but when America spotlights you the rest of the world acknowledges you, especially here at home. They [South African music audience] are like, ‘Hold on, what? You’re a home girl! Let me go check you out,’” she says with amusement.

Her musical path isn’t something she’s always seen written in the stars. “Music was something that I stumbled upon. I’ve always been creative, and I did poetry as a child. I could string a couple of notes together, so I didn’t think much of my voice. My cousin encouraged me to get a guitar and write songs — and stuff developed from the point,” she says.

In 2016, producer Jullian Gomes approached her with a project that would change her life. “We worked on a song titled 1000 Memories, to which I wrote the lyrics. When the song was released, it took off. It was that moment that made me think that maybe I could do this full time.” 

Sio considers her music genre-fluid — a perfect accompaniment to numerous musical genres. “I sing a lot of house, electronic, soul, R&B, and rap. I am not confined to one particular genre,” she says.

Apart from her incredible vocals, the multi-hyphenate considers herself a storyteller in every arena of her life. “If storytelling is the tree, then the branches are the expressions of storytelling. I’m a poet — I’ve published two poetry books. I am a model, lending my body and form to tell a story on behalf of a designer. As a DJ, I tell the story of the artist whom I choose to play in my set. I’m an actress and a writer.”

Sio’s love of storytelling collided with fashion when she was invited to work with South African designer Thebe Magugu. “I was part of Thebe’s Fall 2021 ready-to-wear collection, which was inspired by the fever dream and the awakening of the calling,” she says.

Most recently, she was cast as the lead actress in Magugu’s fashion film Moonlight Cutters, which showed at Paris Fashion Week. “Thebe is a profound storyteller in his arena of fashion. You never just wear clothes with Thebe, you are always wearing art. Apart from the fashion, which is just so beautiful, sitting and listening to him speak of where the story comes from…”

Sio was brought up in a single-parent household and is an only child. Even though she remembers the difficulty of having a working parent, there wasn’t a moment when she didn’t feel surrounded by family. “My mother was looking after a household of 10 people. I was an only child, but I always had a lot of family members,” she says. “As a result, I became hyper-independent and learnt to figure things out for myself.”

Although she was a double-threat student in academics and sports, music was the call to which she ultimately responded. Sio is grateful to her mother for giving her the opportunity to make her own way. “She always encourages me to do what I love, so that I’m never really working. Her greatest gift to me was the freedom to be authentic and do what I love,” she says.

When it comes to questions about her being multi-racial, she considers herself an anomaly, talking of having experienced both the glory and the prejudices of Black women. “My mom’s a Coloured woman and my dad is a Zulu from Emnambithi, Ladysmith. Being multi-racial has informed and broadened my perspective.

“It showed me how people treat you differently based on what they perceive you as. It showed me the prejudices people have — how it is being treated by Black people as a Coloured person, and how people de-value the Black side of me,” she says.

What’s next, musically? “I’m getting a band together and working on my third album, and have a lot of shows lined up for the next couple of months. Collaborations are also on the cards, and maybe even a rap project.”