Koleka Putuma releases debut Spoken Word album, CAN I GET A WITNESS? 27 April 2024
Koleka Putuma has announced the release of her debut Spoken Word album, CAN I GET A WITNESS? The album will be available for streaming and purchase worldwide from 00:00 on 27 April 2024, on all streaming platforms. The album is also available for purchase as a vinyl record.
Koleka Putuma is a collector. She connects words, moments and memories, and weaves poetic strands into complete phrases to make sense of the world.
As the first recipient of Standard Bank’s Young Artist award for Poetry, she has collected and now carries another responsibility: That of representing the poetry tradition in South Africa to a broader audience. It’s a responsibility she guards with a sense of selflessness that belies the comparatively few years she has been a professional practitioner of the craft. She is also a playwright, theatre director, and activist.
Putuma’s first contact with words happened in the Eastern Cape where she was born, and grew up as she moved around with her family, who eventually settled in Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs. She earned her stripes through dedicated practice on platforms unknown and renowned.
Her debut collection of poetry, Collective Amnesia (2017), is an honest portrait of an artist finding their feet in the world. It remains in high demand to this day, testament that collections become archives which reward an intentional collector repeatedly.
Stoic, laser-focused, impervious to imperial distractions, she enters a new era, storing another mantle onto the growing bounty: Recording artist.
CAN I GET A WITNESS? is as loud as it is quiet; as rebellious as it is obedient. It’s a timepiece, a mantle, a recording of a moment within moments, a state of being that seeks no translation, a life that desires to just be.
In honouring the traditions of storytelling and collaboration, the album joins a distinguished lineage of poetry fused with music, bearing witness to artistic legacies and practices of dreaming and archiving.
Written by Koleka Putuma and co-produced in collaboration with Clem Carr, Composer, Saxophonist, Pianist, Producer and the Musical Director. The album features Jude Kenrick on drums, Chantal Willie-Petersen on bass, and Clem Carr on saxophone, keyboards and synths. Bonj and Rivoningo Nkuna appear as guest vocalists. The album was recorded and mixed by Jacques du Plessis at High Seas Studios in Johannesburg, and mastered by Rogan Kelsey at Kelsey Mastering. The project was managed and co-produced by Robyn-Lee Pretorius at With Love The Agency.
Lovers of poetry and music will have the opportunity to attend a listening party in Cape Town on release day. The launch event will be held at One Park Listening Bar: 1 Park Road, Gardens, Cape Town from 18H00 - 21H00.
Tickets are available from Quicket for R100 online, or limited tickets on entry at the door.
The record, poetry collections and merchandise will be available for sale at the event, or as a pre-order on her website, kolekaputuma.com/shop.
Quote from Koleka Putuma:
“I have been blessed to share and experiment with poetry in living rooms, car washes, churches, parking lots, dimly lit bars, concert halls, train carriages, on the page, on the stage, behind a microphone. It's truly a gift to be able to add this record to the list of places I know poetry belongs. While working on CAN I GET A WITNESS? I had the opportunity to collaborate with incredible artists and I am excited to share this project which is a culmination of months of experimentation, deliberation, care and play.”
This project was made possible with the support of Standard Bank.
LISTEN TO THE ALBUM
The album is available for streaming and purchase on all streaming platforms, worldwide from 27 April 2024:
The first single, “CITATION” is available for streaming - listen now.
GET THE MERCHANDISE
The vinyl record and merchandise is available for pre-order on our websites:
Koleka Putuma online store:
https://www.kolekaputuma.com/shop
Manyano Media online store:
https://www.manyanomedia.com/online-store
CONTACT:
Robyn Pretorius
Manyano Media / With Love The Agency
[email protected]
Neo Motlhala
The Grind
[email protected]