Zahara’s seventh studio album, Nqaba Yam, is a stream of the South African Afropop artist’s ponderings and recollections of recent life events. During a time when the world is seeking comfort and refuge in new coping mechanisms, Zahara encourages us to embrace our respective sources of fulfillment. It’s how she herself has been managing. “You must check how I’ve been trashed on social media and the papers,” she tells Apple Music. “There’s nobody who has not suffered from depression or mental illness. But it depends how you channel it. I channel how I feel onto paper.” Just like her previous releases, Zahara’s signature guitar is present throughout the album, from ballads like the title track “Nqaba Yam,” “Sinda Mphefumulo,” and “Ndikhona” to danceable house-leaning tunes “Izolo” and “Forever Yours”. Below, Zahara shares the inspiration behind each song on Nqaba Yam. “Nqaba Yam” “Whatever it is in life that you had been holding on to and whatever is your hope, source of strength, and gives you life, hold on to it. For some people, it could be a tree that gives them life. For others, it’s their ancestors, or it could be God. If it gives you life, hold on to it. Like I always say, what gives me life is my guitar. It is the nqaba yam (my fortress). Even during the pandemic, I'm sure people have things they have been holding on to, they must continue to hold on to it.” “Sinda Mphefumlo” “When I went to the studio to lay down all the songs for the album, my late sister, Nomonde, who passed away in March [2021]—this was her favorite song. She chose ‘Sinda Mphefumlo.’ Maybe she felt that she was going to leave us. ‘Sinda Mphefumlo’ is all about ‘You can take anything away from me, my clothes and everything, and leave me naked, you can put me to the ground, but as long as the Lord or whoever is inqaba yam—my anchor—will preserve my soul.’” “Ndikhona” “It's not only a love song. It means I’m there for you whenever you need me. You want my time, I’m there. Whatever you want me to be: As long as I love you, I’ll be that something. Even if I can't, I’ll at least try. As long as you love me and as long as I’ve got the power to actually do it.” “Ndincede” “My life has been a cliché. There’s a lot I was going through. So with this song, I was like, if there is anyone out there, please help me. I don't know how you're going to help me, and I can’t tell you how, but help me, because where I'm at, I can't feel myself. If there's a higher power or somebody who's here that can actually help me where I'm at. At the end of the day, I feel we're all the same; whether [or not] you're a millionaire, we’re all the same. I wrote the song way before the pandemic. I felt that I know where I want to go, but every time I try, I keep facing obstacles.” “Bawo” “When I talk about ‘Bawo,’ I'm talking about my savior. God has helped me as a young woman facing the challenges I’m facing and being in the space that I’m in and the spaces that I've been in. I am here because of Bawo. So he must be with me. But the challenge is that with us as humans, even though he can be there, we do not listen. So with this song, I had to listen to him.” “Systems” “Why must we be ‘ruly,’ when the ruler is unruly? In this song, I’m referring to all the systems, from the president down—not just in South Africa, but there are all these systems put in place for us. I’m an artist who’s regarded as a national treasure, the daughter of the soil. Have [those in charge] ever checked on me? Even now with this pandemic, have they ever given me any [assistance] or groceries? Nothing.” “Ntak’ encinane” “It’s a folk song I grew up hearing, from my parents and everyone in the village, which means ‘small bird.’ So I took that chorus and wrote around it. The song is about when you see a dove carrying a leaf in its beak. I feel the reason I've been trashed on socials and in the papers is that my story is too simple; I'm young. When the dove is carrying a leaf, it’s telling you that it’s greener on the other side. Even though all you’re seeing is a desert, you can find water on the other side. Even though the bird is little, it’s holding life for the whole world, so the world has to listen to the little bird because it will lead them to the water.” “Senzeni” “There's a story about me; you can google it. I was almost raped by a policeman and he shot at me twice, but he missed. I only [went public] recently because I saw all these gender-based violence stories. As a policeman, he was supposed to protect me, right. But what did he want to do? He put my life in danger. So I wrote the song for each and every woman out there, [asking], ‘What did we do as women to deserve such torture?’” “Nyamezela” “I told myself I will endure whatever comes. As long as I’m alive, as long as I have the next day, I have the chance to make a choice. So it’s up to me what kind of choice I make.” “Izolo” “I had had an argument with my partner the previous night. But I love him, right. People say that you must list the bad and the good things a person has ever done, and if the bad outweighs the good, then he is bad. If the good outweighs the bad, then he's trying. He's not perfect, but he's trying for you. So the line 'Okwayizolo, okwayizolo, ndilapha ngoku' means ‘I was angry yesterday, but today I’m not there anymore. The past is the past.’” “Forever Yours” “I may not know what the future holds, but based on what I know today, I'll be forever his. Because that's what he has shown me.” “Iphupho Lam’” “When we were growing up, we were told by the elders that when running from somebody in a dream, you must make sure they don't catch you. So ‘Phupho lami, dibana nami, xa ukhona kuyenzeka’ means ‘My dreams, my vision, and my mission must meet me.’ For some, that dream could be God; for others, it could be meeting their significant other; for others, it could be spiritual.”