Acclaimed multi-disciplinary South African artist NALEDI has released “Oxam”, a vivid reimagining of the South African nursery rhyme. The inspiration to rework the song began with childhood memories. “The first time I learned Oxam, I was in a car on my way to school with my mom. We used to love playing games, and one of them was tongue twisters”, she said. Oxam is a bask or float of crocodiles in IsiXhosa. NALEDI thinks it is very important to maintain children’s songs. “Something I’ve learned as an educator is that the songs you learn as a child, the rhythms that you learn, and the melodies you learn informs how you hear the world as you grow up”, she added.

She wanted to make sure that she has something like this in her catalog that will continue to maintain and represent stories of the past and present, and represent children in music, while reminding herself how she got into music in the first place. As part of her arrangement process, NALEDI consulted regularly with her mother to set the tune, which is sung in multiple languages across South Africa into IsiXhosa. The New England Conservatory NEC graduate was determined to do justice in her interpretation of this song which always brings fond memories.

NALEDI. Picture Supplied

“One of the interesting things about the song – people have written dissertations about it – is the meaning of the lyric changes depending on which language you sing it in. Our country has 12 official languages. Some of them are known as Nguni languages, which are a language group. Within that, IsiXhosa is my mother tongue”, she explained. While working on the song, she interacted a lot with her mom to ensure she was placing it in the exact cultural context that she wanted to sing it from.

“Oxam” is a sonic middle ground between her smash debut record “BATHO” and the music she has planned for the coming year, with a vibrant arrangement built around a 7/8 time signature. In terms of production, a listener can hear some of the synths play in, how they have used technology to create new sounds for the future, to maintain the contemporary sound of the arrangement. “As I developed this arrangement, I loved the idea of preserving the songs’s language and tradition while also making it feel like I’m telling a story to my child in the future – a child that does not exist – almost like having a school between the two worlds”, she concluded. The song which was released on 15 August is available through all digital platforms.