Lusanda packs ‘Lunchbox’ in Spotify spotlight

South African singer-songwriter Lusanda has been named Spotify’s Equal Africa Ambassador of the Month, coinciding with the release of her new single, Lunchbox, released on Friday (September 11).

Personal reflection drives the new R&B song, which completes her three-track project, By The Time I Wake Up.

Lunchbox is streaming across major music platforms and joins Progress and the title track on the six-minute Taste Records release.

Lusanda says the music draws on experiences from her own life and aims to offer listeners a sense of recognition and recovery.

“I want people to feel something when they hear my voice,” she says. “I write from things I’ve actually been through, and if my music helps someone feel a little less alone, or helps them heal from something, that’s the whole point for me.”

Spotify’s selection of the South African singer-songwriter as the Equal Africa Artist for September is part of a programme that promotes women musicians across the continent through editorial support and greater exposure to local and international audiences.

The recognition continues a relationship that helped Lusanda perform her first full sets in Johannesburg and record a Spotify Singles session. She became the first South African woman featured in the Spotify Singles programme, where she reimagined Mad World, the Tears for Fears song popularised by Gary Jules.

“Being part of a programme that actually puts its resources behind women artists has meant everything,” she says.

Lusanda was born in Durban and raised in Johannesburg. She trained as a classical ballerina from the age of five before studying theatre, performance and choreography at the University of Cape Town. Music moved to the foreground after her stripped-down cover of Outkast’s Hey Ya! attracted attention online in 2023.

That momentum led to her debut single, When You’re Around, followed by collaborations with musicians including Uncle Waffles, Manana and Mörda. The title track from By The Time I Wake Up was written with producer Anoop D’Souza after the pair connected in Ghana.

• Lusanda will take listeners through the three-song release at a Track by Track session at Mamakashaka & Friends in Braamfontein on 17 September.

*Jason Bannier is a data analyst at World Wide Worx and deputy editor of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Bluesky at @jas2bann.