Conversations with the Divine

Maleh has entered a new chapter, embracing vulnerability, introspection and a creative rebirth that blends heritage with faith

- Kibo Ngowi

Maleh has spent over a decade navigating the delicate intersection of faith, identity, and artistry. Born in Lesotho and raised in South Africa, she has long been known for her voice, her emotive songwriting and her ability to articulate love in all its forms.

Hits like Chimsoro and Under My Skin introduced audiences to a voice both soulful and tender, while her solo debut Step Child earned a South African Music Award for Best African Adult Album. Yet for all the recognition and accolades, Maleh feels she is only now stepping into the fullest expression of herself as an artist.

"I named the project Dithapelo because I wanted to let people in on my personal, most intimate conversations with God," she says. "Conversations that I have even with myself about life, about the situations and the circumstances that I've passed through, particularly over the last decade."

Those 10 years have been formative, a combination of highs and lows that prompted deep reflection. Maleh describes her faith as the lens through which she began to understand purpose, to assess the path she has been given and to nurture the relationship she considers the most important of her life — the one with her Maker.

"It really took getting to know and invest in that relationship to understand the path that has been set before me," she says.

This inward turn has had creative consequences. Maleh's previous work explored love in its romantic and relational forms, but her upcoming album Dithapelo demanded a new articulation. "Letting go musically of my usual take on love was a creative struggle," she admits. "This project is an opportunity to share love, the source of love that has proved itself to me to be deeper than that which is physical. It has been extremely interesting to find ways to articulate that, while keeping the sound familiar to people who know my music."

A core part of