Blaqbee ventures into music with debut single Ndiyahamba (Gqi)

Babalwa Mtshiselwa, renowned as Mzansi's leading makeup and hairstyling artist in TV and film, is venturing into music with her sonic moniker Blaqbee.

The 37-year-old's impressive international resume includes working on prolific productions such as Viola Davis's The Woman King and Netflix's Resort to Love starring Christina Milian. She has won countless SA Film and Television Awards (Saftas) for her work in Lockdown,  Trackers, How to Ruin Christmas and Knuckle City.

But before her success in filmmaking, from as young as seven years old, Mtshiselwa discovered different melodies through her school transport driver. That early exposure to music helped her to hone her musical ear and now distinct sound. 

For the last three years, she has been working on finally sharing her music with the public, under her stage name Blaqbee. At the weekend, she dropped a first taste into her music with her debut single Ndiyahamba (Gqi).  She also plans to release an EP, describing the offering as an introspective and in-depth study of the human emotion. She has dubbed her  “genre-less” sound as “Afro-spiritual”.

“Makeup is something that popped up in my early 20s and it was unplanned," Mtshiselwa said. "I knew back then that I wanted to pursue the possibility of being a makeup designer even though my parents were against it, I still went for it. And much like years ago when I took that leap, I’m going to do the same with music.

"One thing that I am now slowly learning is that you can explore every skill set you possess and seeing that music has been with me since the beginning, I’m ready to share my vulnerabilities with the world. I just want to make people feel something from a deep place and be moved closer to themselves through my music." 

Hailing from Langa in Cape Town, Mtshiselwa's 13-year experience on TV and film sets has also seen her on other high-profile productions including Flatland, Noughts and Crosses and Queen Sono. 

”Growing up, I used to love to draw, I’d look for images of female models in magazines and newspapers and I’d attempt to draw them. I remember how I used to love the makeup part of drawing, at the time I didn’t have any attachments to it," Mtshiselwa.

“All of this changed in 2010 when I was looking for a job shortly after graduating as an HR practitioner. I managed to get a job as a secretary on a film production… that’s where I met my love for makeup design.

“The Woman King was one of the biggest productions I’ve ever done. The brief was for me to turn the cast into fierce women warriors of the African kingdom of Dahomey, which I did. Being a part of that was a dream and is still one of the major milestones I’ve ever achieved."