“How long is someone an up-and-coming artist for? Probably until they’ve come up? Right? The journey of the ‘come up’ is a treacherous path that few artists manage to navigate to ultimate fruition, with few succeeding as they had initially imagined they would. It takes endurance, willpower, struggle and sacrifice. Something Durban songstress Nipho Hurd knows all too well.
Nipho has been in the music-making game for over 5 years now but this last year saw her take a leap of faith by quitting her job and committing to her calling as a full-time musician. An ambitious task anywhere, but especially tough in Durban. It’s been a struggle but one with regular gigs around the city, festival appearances, putting on her own events under the label, In Your Backyard and picking up Roots Up as their management, Nipho’s profile has steadily risen in her hometown. Risen to the point where she was ready to release her upcoming EP to a pre-sold out audience at a secret venue on the 28th of March. Unfortunately due to these strange times, the artist will have to postpone the live launch. It’s a devastating blow, but you’ll still get to hear The Ghel next Friday (27 March), and once you hear what Nipho’s been working on, she might have to get a bigger venue for the relaunch.”
Read more here.
Artwork by Kirsten Diedricks.
