Lloyiso is a vocalist who has been around for close to a decade now and has a catalogue strong enough to see him embark on a four-city tour this year.
The 25-year-old from the Eastern Cape has a poised sense of confidence in his speech when speaking to Drum about this tour along with the work he is putting in on his latest album.
“I’ve always loved music and always known that a part of me has loved music more than anything else. It has always been my escape a healing mechanism for me.”
His love for the art form is what drives and inspires him – Lloyiso’s family shares this love of music, especially his sister whom he speaks fondly about.
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“I had a good upbringing when it comes to that and I made sure always to move around, I didn’t just go or grow up in one church. My grandmother and grandfather went to different churches as did my mom,” he says explaining his eclectic outlook and how this informs his sonics.
As for his album, he veers away from boxing in the sound you might experience on it.
“I don’t know what genre it is. When I make music, I make music. I have no idea what category it might fit into. In today’s music people would call it pop. Others might call it R&B some might say soul, I call it healing . . . I call it cool. I think the way that I make music and in the process of making it, I go through a lot of phases because of how versatile my background in music is and the music I grew up listening to.”
Gospel was a big part of his early development in music, but he did expand his tastes beyond that.
“For now, it’s the album and the tour and I’m just excited to take things further and grow the fanbase. I want to travel the world, see different people, study different cultures and learn more about music and how I can use music to make the world a better place.”
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He isn’t a person you often see making headlines as he is usually busy creating and only on the scene as it were when he is performing.
“What I love about the music industry is being able to be unapologetically me. I think one thing that being an artist gives you is the freedom to express yourself in so many different ways.”
He believes being creative is about intuition and being in a state of mind in which you can convey an idea you have to an audience. This is his main objective with his Elephant In The Room tour.
“This tour is something I have been planning, conceptualising and thinking about because my biggest love is performing. I love being on stage and seeing people’s faces light up. Being in an atmosphere where I get to share and people also get to experience a feeling they have never felt before or see something they have never seen. I am always about innovating the way that people listen to my music and evolving and changing the sound. I think that’s why I do so many different sounds.
“This tour is honestly a chapter in my life where I am celebrating being in the music industry for quite a long time, it has been seven or eight years or more. It is a celebration of what I have done and what I continue to do and how I impact people’s lives in the positive way that I am.”
Lloyiso nonchalantly boasts that his tour will be both out of this world and heavenly. He has designs to provide a space where you can cry or be vulnerable if those emotions should come over you.
“I believe I have been gifted with something special and when someone listens to me, they feel some sort of feeling and that’s what keeps pushing me to keep doing this. The Elephant in the Room tour is an experience for people to celebrate life, the ups and downs.”
In partnership with beer brand Stella Artois, The Elephant In The Room tour will kick off on 8 June in Pretoria before Lloyiso heads to Cape Town on the 21st, Gqeberha on the 22nd and Johannesburg on the 29th.
The album is yet to be given a release date but it is something to look forward to over the remainder of 2024.
