Up close and personal with DJ Zinhle - The tomboy is such a lady
HER Majesty the Queen, Ntombezinhle "DJ Zinhle" Jiyane, is in the house.
Her hit song My Name Ishas taken her career to another level. But with success comes pain.
"I'm tired of insults and being compared to other people. I don't understand why people have a problem with my body and saying stuff like I'm a man trapped in a woman's body," she fumes.
"Some went as far as to say I have a d**k."
There's nothing manly about her. She is dressed to the nines for our meeting, sporting sky high heels, fitted jeans and a tailored jacket.
Her long nails scream with colour - trendy and flashy.
She sips on green tea and looks a bit awkward.
"Suddenly I was famous and had to deal with serious insults. Trevor Gumbi went wild on stage making jokes about my manly structure.
"Others accuse me of being a gold digger, and of dating men and dropping them when I became popular.
"Now they're accusing me of having an affair with AKA and how he's the one having my baby, how he treats me badly...
"AKA is cute, but no....
"These comments affected me so much I thought of quitting. I'm about empowering women and thought my students' parents would start thinking I'm this horrible person.
"I've decided to ignore it because that's not who I am. As long as I'm comfortable with my body I couldn't care less what everyone else thinks."
Her anger subsides and she speaks about her puppy love experiences.
"I dated this weird looking guy in grade 10. Shame, I loved that boy. Then I discovered Christianity and was told dating before marriage wasn't Christian. So I left him. He was probably wanting to get laid. He was devastated.
"After school I dated this tall, dark and handsome guy who was my everything. He broke up with me when I started this DJ thing.
"He complained I was getting too famous. He was conservative ... I'd thought at the time he was the one."
She relaxes some more and speaks about how her music has taken over the dance floor.
"After so many years in the industry, it's done so much for me. I can't go anywhere anymore without being recognised.
"I never saw this DJ thing as a career. My brother Zakhele taught me."
She was an intern at Clarens, a cosmetics company, at the time.
"But I was such a tomboy. I didn't care for fashion or make-up."
She's now so proud of her fashion she keeps updating her social pages with different looks.
"I can't stop shopping now - clothes, shoes, bags and shades," she says blushing.
As a girl from humble beginnings, she feels blessed.
"I grew up in the rural areas of Anniville in KZN with chickens and cows, and fetched water from the river. I remember riding donkeys and making fires while my granny told us stories.
"We weren't rich but I thought we were better off than most families around. Kids in the township would come to our candle lit house to watch our battery operated TV because we were the only family with one."
She says moving into a house in the suburbs was a shock to her system.
"It was a huge house in Dannhauser, a mostly Indian area. We had electricity and running water. The shower was foreign to me; I didn't have a clue how to use it. My brother and I would fight over who would put the lights on because we just weren't used to it," she smiles.
Zinhle was her late dad's child.
"He was the king of my world; he was my biggest fan and I know he watches over me."
Comments
Madira1988
SISI abantu can ruin your career and drag you down, so continue doing what you do best and stop the worrying about media they will do anything to sell the paper. Qina and make us dance again and againRead all 1 comments