Lollise

Lollise is a multi-disciplinary artist from Francistown, Botswana, now based in New York City. Quotes And when you’re so far away, all you can think of is family and how they’re changing. You’re seeing the WhatsApp groups, everyone is chatting and you’re so far away and you don’t get it. You can’t be as involved, because in some ways it’s painful. But also you know that family is what makes me me. At the same time, I wouldn’t be a musician if I had stayed with my family. Some of our languages are tonal and trying to slot my language into a song, you find that, “Oh, I can’t just use this melody that I was thinking of. The melody has to change in order for the language to make sense.” As I was thinking of singing in Kalanga, I realized that even the bass line had to change. And that’s a beautiful thing. Now I appreciate a lot of music from all over the African continent differently. But the album was kind of like me writing to my family, to my mother, my father who passed away, thanking them for what they’ve done and who they are, and then also writing back accounts from the US. I think there’s certain things that as a Black woman in America, you’re expected to talk about: the big things, racism. And they’re there all the time. I think white artists don’t need to talk about those things. They’re free to sing about anything. For me, I think because politics is happening to me, I have to sing about what’s happening to me. That’s my experience. Politics is happening to everyone and everyone is political, even if you’re singing about love or only about frivolous things, because your life is, to some extent, quite frivolous because of the privileges that you’ve been afforded. That is political, to sing about frivolous things. And I would like to sing about those things. I would like to have the freedom to sing about everything. I don’t want to just be seen as an advocate or an activist. We talked earlier about getting into a space when writing that can open you up to other channels, some other doors, but you have to be in that space first for those doors to open. To some extent, at least how I dress, it helps me to step onto the stage. I make my own clothing for the stage. I’m very shy, so this was a way that I could step into my role as a lead singer. Now my clothes are kind of my guard. They facilitate me to step into this role and to play the character. Well, not a character necessarily, but to usher me and the audience into the space, to say, “We are here, setting the stage, this is what we are getting into. I’ve seen other traditions use clothing to accentuate a movement. I’ve mentioned the Tsonga people a lot, but with Tsonga, their skirts, and with Zulu, something is dangling, something is accentuating a movement. And so if I’m lacking in some way, then maybe my clothes will do the rest of the work. I’m so simple. Not simple in a bad way, but just even having the chance to make music is being successful for me. Being an artist wasn’t even on my radar, as much as I loved music and consuming art. I just didn’t think it was accessible to me. And then I didn’t know that I could write music, so that I wrote music that I’m proud of, and then I’m putting it out and performing it? I find that as being successful. Musician Lollise discusses bringing light to women's health issues, moving away from home, and what it means to be successful., March 07 2025 External Links