After more than a decade of making music, Kabelo Mabalane has reached a point where recreating the past no longer feels right.
The veteran artist has opened up about the personal journey behind his return to releasing music, explaining that his creativity only began flowing again after he accepted that he was no longer the same person who made his earlier music.
Today, Mabalane sees himself through several different roles — as a father, pastor, leader, brother and experienced music veteran.
And those experiences, he says, have changed the soundtrack he wants to create.
“I’m a father, I’m a pastor, I’m a leader, I’m a brother. I’m at a different station of life,” Mabalane explained during an interview on SABC News. “What does the soundtrack of my life sound like now? And that’s when the creativity started to flow.”
Mabalane stopped trying to recreate his past
The artist revealed that he spent years working on music, only to pull back when the material no longer felt authentic.
Part of the struggle was trying to recreate sounds and ideas that had worked for him earlier in his career.
But as his life changed, so did his perspective.
Eventually, Mabalane realised that his new music needed to reflect the person he had become rather than attempting to recreate the artist he used to be.
That shift opened the door to a new creative chapter.
“Uncle Kabelo” embraces a new chapter
Mabalane also offered a humorous glimpse into how his position in the industry has changed.
After being referred to as “Uncle Kabelo” by someone from a younger generation of the music scene, the veteran decided to embrace the title.
“I was like, you know, any self-respecting man would just accept the title,” he joked.
The moment reflects the different stage of life Mabalane now finds himself in — one shaped by experience, responsibility and the perspective that comes with getting older.
“Everybody Needs Somebody” shows a more vulnerable Kabelo
That perspective is evident in his latest single, “Everybody Needs Somebody.”
Rather than relying on the larger-than-life confidence associated with some of his previous anthems, the song embraces vulnerability and the reality that people need one another.
For Mabalane, vulnerability should not be confused with weakness.
He believes it requires courage to acknowledge that nobody navigates life completely alone.
“I really believe that vulnerability is underpinned by courage,” he said.
The message challenges the idea of the completely self-made individual and instead focuses on interdependence — the ways family, friends, colleagues and communities contribute to who we become.
Nobody succeeds entirely alone
Mabalane believes his own journey is proof that success is rarely achieved in isolation.
The people around him have played a role in shaping his life, career and identity, making it impossible to claim that he built everything entirely by himself.
“We can’t sit there and say, I’ve made it all on my own,” he said.
That philosophy appears to sit at the heart of his latest musical chapter.
A new soundtrack for a different life
Mabalane’s return to music is therefore not simply about making new songs.
It is about documenting who he is now.
After years of experience, his priorities and perspective have shifted — and his music is evolving alongside them.
With “Everybody Needs Somebody,” Mabalane appears less interested in chasing the sound of his past and more focused on creating music that reflects the realities of his present.
The next chapter of his career, it seems, is not about trying to become the Kabelo Mabalane of years ago.
It is about giving the man he is today his own soundtrack.
