Iimini: Album Review
- Jul 22, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 22, 2025
The feeling that springs out of me when I listen to Iimini can be described as a feeling of nostalgia.
Iimini is an impeccable story of a lost love that is too glorious to be heard once. I appreciate the traditional and modern fusion that Bongiziwe brings in his sound and writing. This is perfectly encapsulated by the songs Zange and Jikeleze .
Zange is an upbeat song where Bongeziwe expresses his joy after the person he confessed his love to tells him that they feel the same. So those of you who do not understand Xhosa( which is the language that Bongeziwe sings and writes in) Zange translates to never. So in the song, Bongiziwe keeps saying ''Zange ndaphinde ndafana, ngabangomunye umuntu '' and I think this so so beautiful and another line that I adore is the one that reads ''Pambi kobufike ndandingazi ukuba ndothini ,ngoba ndandinesingo , isindingo sothanda. ndanyangwa nguwe. mna ndaphila'' his wording and this specific line bring so much satisfaction to my soul!
Zange is one of the first songs that made me fall in love with Bongeziwe and without any doubt, it fits into this story illustrated by Imini. On the album, Bongeziwe starts us off with Mini esadibana ngayo. this simply translates to ''The evening we met ''. This is the perfect introduction to this album, it calmly prepares us for the lovely journey that Bongiziwe will further narrate. The second song in the album is called Masiziyekelele which means let us let ourselves go and this reveals to us that this love that Bongiziwe is experiencing is somewhat scrutinized and it sounds like he has been repressing himself and now his like ''Screw it, let us do us!" and I stan when he says ''Abantu masibayeke
Abazazi intliziyo zethu
Ngoba kunini sizibambile
Sothandana phi, na?" translating to "Let us let go of people's perceptions, they don't know our hearts cause it has been long since we held ourselves back, when will we love each other?" This song describes the liberation that love brings.
The third song is called Salanabani ( Translates: who will I be left with?)and my goodness, do I not love this song?!
Grief has five stages and one of them is bargaining and I think this song paints this stage so eloquently. After the joys and liberation of this love, this song tells us that the love between Bongiziwe and his lover is being lost and Bongiziwe is in deep mourning and it seems like life after this breakup is incomprehensible
''Ntliziyo yami
Ndayinika wena
Ndosala nobani
Xa ndishiywa nguwe?'' here he laments '' I gave my heart to you. Who will I be left with if I am left by you" and you can feel the emotions in his cracking voice. Another thing I noticed is that some songs are titled alongside a date and I am assuming that these are songs that were written on the specified dates or mark the time when he experienced these deep emotions
Skipping to song seven: Khangela translating to ''Searching'' Here Bongiziwe explicitly conveys his persistent search for love. I found the line that translates'' I once lived in darkness, swore that I would never again but how does it happen that I hurt myself'' pertinent to people who relentlessly seek love. Your heart gets broken and you are surrounded by darkness but that does not magically halt your desire to find love, so you continue to search, to hope regardless of your previous mishaps. This song reveals Bongiziwe's vulnerability that I am in complete awe of as this is the ultimate strength.
ISIPHELO. wow wow, this for me is the song where a standing ovation is deserved. This song is the epitome of the final stage of grief: Acceptance. I love everything about this song, the grace it embodies, and the symphony of the instruments. In this song we can tell that Bongiziwe has a deep love for his lost lover, is still in pain but is affirming himself with the memories that they both shared ''Mandibulele ngento yonke
Ondenzele yona
M’na ndilingqina
Lentliziyo yekh’ welungile" translating to ''Let me thank you for everything that you did for me. I am a witness of the goodness of your heart' and the splendid denouement of this glorious album is led by the song ''Ndiyakuthanda'' meaning '' I love you'' in this song you can gauge Bongiziwe's graceful acceptance and self-awareness of the fact that he will always love his lover regardless of their break-up.
Iimini is my favorite album, it moves me in ways that I can't begin to describe, just listening to it pushes and pulls at me in a hundred ways, and when I try to define those hundred ways words just become useless.
Thank you Bongiziwe for sharing your soul :)
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