Ipeleng

There’s a delicate balancing act in the music industry. Artists can’t simply experiment and explore the depths of their creativity – they have to create music that might be palatable for endless repetition on the radio (You know the type: top 40 bops that all somewhat merge into one predictable rhythm. The ones that incessantly bounce around your mind more than your own thoughts). Artists are presented with categories and genres like a multiple-choice exam in an A-or-B, one-or-the-other finality. Of course – in painful irony – the trailblazers are always those praised for their ingenuity, despite the industry not particularly facilitating those with a propensity for the avant-garde. Ipeleng Lentsoe (22), a genre shapeshifter between soulful, sensual melodies and ethereal indie riffs; defined by her striking beautiful voice and raw authenticity in her releases, has never fit into the carefully constructed boxes she’s been allocated. Thank God for that.

 I don’t come into this interview as just a fan of her discography; I’ve known Ipeleng since school. But it’s clear from the start of our chat, that despite our history, this is not the same Ipeleng I knew back then. Of course, a few things are still similar: we fall into an easy rapport, skipping the small talk altogether – delving into a reflective conversation as old friends, much like the natural authenticity that’s woven into her music. This Ipeleng is distinctively empowered, settling into herself and fitting together the parts of herself in a way that she might not have embraced as openly when she was younger. She has a voice – one that, arguably, she’s always had – but one that feels so clearly, definingly hers.

“When I got into university, I realised I can’t spend my time doing something I don’t care about. I can’t spend my time doing something that I’m not passionate about, doing something that doesn’t light me up,” she tells me. With the release of her first EP in 2018 came her first collection of original songs. Before that, she hadn’t particularly found her own sound – she mostly did covers and didn’t yet have the confidence to release her original work until her first year at UCT. “I started realising I was my own artist. When I create, it’s going to be 100% mine, and it’s going to be 100% my experiences.”

Finding this voice was not easy. Ipeleng found herself – before the release of the ground-breaking “Unsolicited” EP in 2020 – struggling with the balancing act between individuality and perceptions of commercial success. “I’ve also been through instances where I have had very prominent people in the music industry telling me that the sort of music that I make is never going to resonate with South African audiences, that it’s never going to be a breakthrough for me. And I would have to look at other alternatives and other music types to make it if I want that.”

It’s laughable, actually. “Unsolicited” was an instant hit. “Patience” from the project featured on Netflix’s popular series Blood and Water (episode 6, season 2 by the way). I’d find her songs whilst browsing Apple Music playlists. “Unsolicited” was a diary of sorts, an outpouring of pain and vulnerability. It was her voice and her voice only, expressing confusion and conflict within herself and her relationships, struggling to ground herself after a stinging heartbreak. And it was part of what had made the release so successful. She received messages – and still does – from people sharing that her music was instrumental in their healing process. “If I could put a label on the experience of releasing Unsolicited, it was affirming. It was affirming that, okay, I can pull myself into my music, I can talk about what I really think, I can write about what I really feel, and have people actually enjoy it and have people resonate with it.”

Artistic growth, however, is almost always just a symptom of extensive personal growth. It’s evident from her most recent release, the intimate EP pHantom, that she has truly blossomed into herself, and in turn, revealed the intricacies of her artistic identity. While Unsolicited is an album aching with grief, pHantom is enchantingly tender and softly optimistic. The Ipeleng in pHantom knows herself. She knows what she wants, and, most importantly, she knows what she’s worth. “Unsolicited as a project was made by someone who really just enjoys music and wants to share their creativity with people, whereas pHantom is far more, okay. This person knows that they can sing. They know that they can write music, but they want to take it a step further.”

Ipeleng’s artistic evolution is evident in pHantom’s dreamily doting lyricism and enthralling vocal range. But even more notable is how pHantom serves as a further challenge to the stereotypes that have been forced on her as a young black woman in “post” Apartheid South Africa. Parts have been rewarding, as she notes: to present as a soft black woman and to be embraced as one, to be able to show that she is multi-faceted and emotional. “This sort of ‘deviation from the norm’ has been a part of my life and the way that I present for far too long now – so much so that it’s rarely a consideration. It’s a core part of who I am…it’s a source of power that has really allowed me to connect to people in the ways that I want, and to leave an impact and facilitate healing in the ways that I desire.”

Not that this is all rewarding – as much as the South African music industry is growing into its own authenticity, and as much as black artists are taking further control of their own sound – it’s still spearheaded by white executives. This disconnect is a further challenge Ipeleng has found that confronts black artists: “I think it’s something that can be overcome, particularly in a cultural space, and a musical space and a creative space, of course. But it’s very difficult to know that or to have to understand that the people that sort of can make your career and the people that can really help you sort of spread the message that you want to spread, will never have a true understanding of who you are as a person at the core.”

But Ipeleng has found herself surrounded by those who are open-minded and encourage her to find her voice, despite the challenges looming in the future of the industry. Clearly, it’s paid off. It’s quite something to create music that sounds good, but it’s pretty rare to create music that forms part of your audience’s growth.

“The mandate when I create music is to facilitate healing,” she tells me. “That’s always something that I feel really deeply about. I’m always one to encourage people to feel, to encourage people to confront what is making their hearts break, what is making them happy, what is making them despondent.” But in the future, she hopes to draw on more of her perceptions of the external. “I’d also want my music to become more outward, and less of a reflection of what I’m going through, less of a reflection of my emotions, but a reflection of the world and society. And that’s something that I’m willing and hoping to achieve. I’d like to be able to put my observations of the world, my theorising, and my philosophies into my music.”

So, what’s next for Ipeleng? For now, she’s focusing on her mental health before any further releases, but she’s itching to perform live again. Even though her music career has only just begun, it’s clear that Ipeleng is a pioneer: an artist who makes her own rules, her work a manifestation of not just her individuality, but a much-needed disruption to the music industry. 

Follow Ipeleng’s Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to keep up to date with her journey, and check her out on Spotify and Apple Music.

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