Grammy Award-winning star joins Jesse Clegg, Msaki and Skye Wanda in a powerful new interpretation of one of Johnny Clegg’s most enduring songs
Seen Here: Zakes Bantwini brings a powerful new energy to Johnny Clegg’s timeless classic The Crossing (Osiyeza), joined by Jesse Clegg, Msaki and Skye Wanda in a stirring celebration of music, memory, culture and a legacy that continues to cross generations. Photo Credit: Supplied
The Grammy Award-winning South African artist joins Jesse Clegg, Msaki and Skye Wanda on the latest release from Scatterlings, an ambitious project celebrating the extraordinary musical legacy of the late Johnny Clegg while introducing his timeless catalogue to a new generation.
Rather than simply revisiting a classic, the artists have taken The Crossing (Osiyeza) and given it fresh emotional and musical dimensions, demonstrating how powerful songs can evolve without losing the essence of the stories that gave birth to them.
For Bantwini, whose career has been defined by his ability to move between traditional African influences and contemporary global sounds, the collaboration represents a natural meeting of artistic worlds.
Over more than two decades, Bantwini has established himself as one of South Africa’s most influential contemporary musicians. His international breakthrough with Osama transformed him into a global name, while his collaboration with Wouter Kellerman and Nomcebo Zikode on Bayethe earned the artists a Grammy Award in 2023.
His contribution to The Crossing (Osiyeza) therefore carries particular resonance.
The song is deeply rooted in South African musical and cultural history. Originally recorded by Johnny Clegg and Savuka, it was written following the death of Dudu Zulu, Clegg’s close friend, dancer and musical collaborator.
That history gives the new recording an emotional weight that goes beyond the reinterpretation of a well-known song.
A song carrying memory
For Jesse Clegg, Johnny Clegg’s son and one of the driving forces behind the Scatterlings project, hearing Bantwini reinterpret a song so closely associated with his father’s story was a particularly meaningful experience.
“The Crossing is a song that has carried so much meaning for me throughout my life and, of course, for my father.”
Jesse says the song’s connection to Zulu culture and his father’s musical journey made Bantwini’s involvement especially significant.
He describes watching Bantwini’s creative process as inspiring, particularly the way the Grammy-winning artist approached a song with such a rich history while still making it his own.
The result, Jesse believes, captures the fundamental philosophy behind Scatterlings: honouring the past without being imprisoned by it.
Bantwini does not attempt to recreate Clegg’s original performance. Instead, he approaches the material through his own artistic vocabulary, allowing the song to exist in a contemporary South African musical landscape.
That distinction is important.
Johnny Clegg’s music was always about crossing boundaries — between languages, cultures, musical traditions and communities. The new version of The Crossing (Osiyeza) continues that journey.
Keeping Johnny Clegg’s music alive
For Msaki, one of the project’s key creative principles has been resisting the temptation to simply reproduce Johnny Clegg’s original recordings.
Instead, Scatterlings gives contemporary artists the freedom to interrogate, reinterpret and reimagine the catalogue.
“The Crossing (Osiyeza) already carries so much. There is movement, memory and hope in it.”
Msaki says the intention was never to reproduce what Clegg had already created, but to allow his songs to encounter a new generation of artists and listeners.
That approach gives Scatterlings a significance that extends beyond a tribute album.
It becomes a conversation between generations.
Clegg’s original work emerged from a uniquely South African context, often bringing together musical traditions that had historically been separated by the country’s social and political divisions. Decades later, artists such as Bantwini, Msaki and Skye Wanda are taking those songs into a new musical era.
The result is not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake.
It is cultural continuity.
From one generation to another
There is something particularly fitting about Bantwini taking on The Crossing (Osiyeza).
His own music has consistently explored the intersection between African identity and contemporary global music. His work has demonstrated that distinctly South African sounds can travel internationally without sacrificing their cultural DNA.
That makes his contribution to Scatterlings more than a guest appearance. It represents a meeting of two generations of South African musical storytelling.
Johnny Clegg’s catalogue has long occupied a unique position in the country’s cultural landscape. His music crossed linguistic and cultural boundaries at a time when doing so carried profound social significance.
Now, artists who grew up in the world shaped in part by Clegg’s music are taking those compositions forward.
The Crossing (Osiyeza) consequently becomes both a remembrance and a renewal — a song about loss given another life through a new generation of musicians.
A legacy that refuses to stand still
Curated and conceptualised by Jesse Clegg and Msaki, Scatterlings brings together some of South Africa’s leading artists to reinterpret Johnny Clegg’s catalogue through contemporary musical perspectives.
The project’s greatest strength may be its refusal to treat Clegg’s music as something static.
These songs are not museum pieces.
They remain living works capable of speaking to new audiences, acquiring new meanings and reflecting the experiences of artists who inhabit a very different South Africa from the one in which many of the originals were created.
With Bantwini, Msaki, Jesse Clegg and Skye Wanda bringing their voices and perspectives to The Crossing (Osiyeza), the song becomes a meeting point between memory and modernity.
And perhaps that is the most fitting way to honour Johnny Clegg.
Not simply by remembering the music he made, but by allowing it to keep moving.
Follow the Scatterlings project: @scatterlings_za
Listen to The Crossing (Osiyeza):
