Apple Music today announces Pietermaritzburg-born singer-songwriter Jabulile Majola as the latest cover star of its Africa Rising playlist, a flagship initiative dedicated to championing the next generation of African talent.
Emerging as one of South Africa’s distinctive voices in contemporary Afro-folk and Afro-soul, Majola draws on isiZulu storytelling, acoustic instrumentation and subtle maskandi influences to create music rooted in vulnerability, reflection and lived experience. Having moved from rap into a more expansive folk-led sound, he has developed an approach to songwriting that explores identity, personal growth and the complexities of being human.
Following his 2025 debut album, Isitifiketi, Majola released his sophomore album, Ipasi, in September. Roughly translating to “ID Document”, the album traces an ever-evolving understanding of self, exploring identity, growth, change, love, heartbreak, vulnerability and gratitude. Where Isitifiketi laid out the cards he had been dealt, Ipasi represents the act of moving through them, capturing the experience of becoming someone new while remaining connected to where you come from.
Now, Majola is set to release the deluxe edition of Ipasi, expanding the original 11-track album to 15 tracks. The expanded edition introduces two new songs, “Nyana Ka Maria” and “Uhebe”, a live recording of “Nyoni Yami”, and an extended version of “uJakalasi”. Its focus track, “Nyana Ka Maria”, captures the quiet honesty of someone coming to terms with a struggling faith. Moving through the space between prayer and silence, the song shifts from questioning God’s absence to offering a quiet Thuma mina (“send me”). It is a gentle confession that finds grace not in the performance of purity, but in the willingness to step forward despite uncertainty.
Across Ipasi, Majola widens his Afro-folk and Afro-soul palette with acoustic guitars, warm cellos, lush brass and subtle maskandi inflections. Recorded across Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, Johannesburg and London, the album features collaborations with Thando Zide and Lia Butler, alongside contributions from Ross Dorkin, Gregory Abrahams and Akeedah Keet. Its only English-language track, “Hope”, is dedicated to his late sister, while the wider collection moves between intimate reflections on home, departures, love and the quieter spaces of life.
Speaking about the intention behind the record, Majola tells Apple Music: “It’s not an aspirational vibe. It must get you exactly where you’re at with your life and it must connect you to that reality. It mustn’t take you away. It mustn’t make you escape, because there’s something very beautiful about staying within the tension if you are struggling. I want this album to find you where you are and keep you there, so that when you come out, you are a different person than you were when you went in.”
Since its release, Ipasi has gathered almost six million streams and appeared on leading streaming charts across South Africa, while earning critical acclaim. The album has also marked a landmark season for Majola, who has completed a sold-out national tour, performed at WOMEX in Spain and played a sold-out show in London. He has also shared the first teaser footage from an upcoming documentary about his story. Reflecting on the questions that continue to shape his songwriting, Majola tells Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio: “There’re certain questions that we ask, but sometimes you will never actually find the answer. As you grow older, your perspective towards those questions will change.”
As this month’s Africa Rising cover star, Jabulile Majola will be featured across the Africa Rising playlist, join Nadeska for an interview airing on Apple Music 1 on Monday, 9 November at 3pm ET / 10pm SAST, and feature in an exclusive Africa Now Radio episode with host Nandi Madida, offering listeners deeper insight into his journey and creative vision.
About Apple Music’s Africa Rising Campaign
Since 2020, Apple Music’s artist development programme Africa Rising has showcased the best and brightest emerging artists from around the continent, exposing them to global audiences and allowing their music to reach fresh ears. With the eyes of the world firmly fixed on Africa’s vibrant music scene, Africa Rising has provided editorial support to emerging African artists across the Apple Music ecosystem, including Tyla, Omah Lay, Rema, Tems, Ayra Starr, Amarae and many more.