Nia Pearl Randomly Bumped Into DJ Maphorisa In A Shop And Her Life Changed

Eastern Cape-born Amapiano singer-songwriter, Nia Pearl’s new EP, ‘Nia Lo’, has accumulated over 1 million streams since its release on August 9. 

We caught up with the artist and learned more about her, her EP, how she met DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small, and more.

Who is Nia Pearl?

"Nia is a small-town girl from eMthatha, Eastern Cape. My real name is Pheleka Lwana. I am a singer-songwriter, just a lover of art, hence my name is Nia. “Nia” means “purpose” and my purpose is just to sing and touch hearts with music."

Tell us about your journey from a small town eMthatha to the big city of Jozi.

"I’m the youngest of five siblings, so my sister was already on this side therefore my transition wasn’t daunting because they took me through everything until I felt comfortable. Until I made friends. Besides my colleagues, I hang onto them a lot. So Joburg was home because of the people that were already here."

Your debut EP, ‘Nia Lo’ is a reintroduction of you in the industry. Why did it take you this long to drop it and explain the meaning behind it?

"Some people know me from Kabza’s song that dropped in 2020 and the song was ‘Nia Lo’, and I thought that people were like “What happened to Nia Pearl? She came and dropped one song and she disappeared.” So, I felt like it’s also clever to be like, “Oh yeah, you’re still that girl”. Now, I’m on my own, standing on my own. I’ve found my own voice, and that’s something that’s part of the delay and me somewhat disappearing was me trying to figure out things for myself. Find my own voice. Piano is vast and there’s a lot going on. There are a lot of artists, so it's so key that you find your own nice spot. Find what you’re really good at and just push that. I think I finally got to that point, man, and I’m very confident in what I’m doing now. And I know Soulful Piano is quite niche but I’m okay with that."

When you say you’ve found yourself and gained confidence through everything, how would you describe the contrast between who you were and who you are now?

"I think I’ve always known who I am. I think that there are just some moments of feeling some doubt. There’s just sometimes doubting that do you think people will buy into this? People are making this kind of music and they’re making money and they’re gigging, so maybe I should do that. So, I got to a point where I just came back to myself, I’m like, nah, you’re good, you’re fine. This is what you’re good at. My personality is also mellow, I’m quiet, naturally quiet. I naturally don’t have a very loud, fast-paced personality so it wouldn’t make sense for me to do something that is not who I am. And, I feel like people won’t buy into something that they see is not natural. So, I got to a point like, let me stick to who I am, let me stick to what I know. And, I’m in a good place. The right people will like it and buy into it. And, it’s happening."

DJ Maphorisa discovered you. How did that happen and what was it like working with him?

"I met him in 2019 at a shop randomly, he was doing his shopping. Me and my sister stopped him by the door. He asked me to do a song for him because I was like, “I wanna work with you,” he said, “Okay, just sing for me a little bit,” and I did. We exchanged numbers, and then the next week we met. I went to the studio. I met Kabza at the studio through DJ Maphorisa. It was so random and very quick. I even thought this guy wouldn’t answer my calls."

You grew up listening to a lot of Jazz, now you’re doing Amapiano. Tell us about your love for Jazz and how you grew your love for Amapiano.

"My music background is very vast. I grew up listening to a lot of Jazz, yes, I also listened to a lot of Afro Soul, a lot of soulful music like Motown. My dad loved Motown. My mom loved Dolly Parton and Leta Mbulu. So, I listened to a lot of those songs growing up. Just a huge library to reference and think it comes out every once in a while when I perform, in like how I write my songs. Even before I met Maphorisa, I used to actually do a lot of covers, and corporate events with a band. I used to sing all these old Jazz songs, all these old African songs. I still carry those with me. The melodies are there. They’re stuck in my mind so like I’ll always come to that and reference it."

Stream ‘Nia Lo’ below: