WORDS: TIM HEAP // PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANCISCO GOMEZ DE VILLABOA // FASHION: CARLOS MANGUBAT
Singer-songwriter, actor and all-round good egg, Nakhane has a simple request for us all. “A little bit of empathy is all I want from the world,” he says softly, talking about the death threats he’s become accustomed to receiving this year. “It seems to be lacking at the moment.”
Having spent the last couple of hours posing for photos, Nakhane opts to sit on the studio floor for our interview. He’s perfectly content, almost zen-like, while I’m uncomfortably shifting around every few minutes with legs splayed. We have cups of coffee in hand and his Mancunian boyfriend, Chris, is close by. Over the four years they’ve been together, Chris, who lives with Nakhane in Johannesburg and works as a producer for MTV, has become used to occupying himself while Nakhane promotes his music and other projects, quoting Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, Zadie Smith and other luminaries as he goes.