Viwo Kulati boldly claims her space in music scene

Soulful singer Viwo Kulati is known for her powerful and crystal-clear voice coupled with her mature stage presence, a skillset she has learnt and observed from her muse American singer Lalah Hathaway.

Despite being just 26-years-old, the soulful singer, whose real name is Viwolwethu Kulati, is slowly becoming one of SA’s most recognisable voices in the jazz industry. She has shared the stage with the legendary singer-songwriter Thandiswa Mazwai, neo-soul extraordinaire Zonke Dikana, rock band Blk Jks as well as performance art group The Brother Moves On.  

“I’ve always looked up to Lalah Hathaway– I love the way she puts emotion to songs and her delivery on some of her notes when she sings is immaculate. Her singing is so effortless, something I admire and hope to execute well one day,” the jazz enthusiast said.

“Lalah is such a raw talent. Her tone makes her unique and sets her apart from other musicians. I love how flexible she is in tackling other genres. From watching her performances, I’ve learnt that I shouldn’t be afraid to dig deep within myself and become as vulnerable as possible with my voice. I’ve also learnt not to be afraid of tacking low-range notes.”  

Kulati hails from Makhanda in Eastern Cape. Her love for music and her respect for the arts emerged at a young age after being exposed to the annual National Arts Festival.

Another contributor to her interest in music was her father, who exposed her to different sounds of music from various genres. “I grew up in a household where you’d hear a lot of reggae songs. My father would play Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer,” she recalls.

“Having been exposed to such music at a very young age has shaped my outlook and perception of music as a singer. I’ve learnt to appreciate other genres and not only jazz… that’s why I have a deep appreciation for R&B and Afro-soul.”

Kulati’s exposure to music encouraged her involvement in musical activities at school where she later took music and classical voice lessons at Victoria Girls’ High School. She is currently completing a degree in jazz vocals at Wits. 

As she continues to strike a balance between a budding music career and school, Kulati recently found her voice through her new debut album titled Love which is centred on the Bible scripture: ‘1 Corinthians 13’, which expresses her observations on how people need love.

Kulati recently performed her new offering live to an intimate audience in Braamfontein, a night she labelled as the highlight of this year.   

“I have always wanted to find my voice and thanks to my producer Wilson Okafor, who pushed me to find myself as a singer, I managed to touch on the fact that we are nothing without love. Love is beautiful, especially if you share it with yourself or other people,” the singer expresses.

“We often put other things on the pedestal forgetting that we are human and need love… we are incomplete without love. The Bible also says that everything else iyaphela [it ends] but love is eternal. In short, the EP is based on that entire scenario. The EP is, however, not a gospel genre but an RNB & Soul genre.”