Makhanj has never been one to play it safe. The Eastern Cape-born singer, songwriter, and attorney has built her name on bold choices and boundary-pushing collaborations that stretch beyond the limits of Amapiano. With her latest single, “Kukuwe (Radio Edit)”, she brings together Stixx and Deeper Phil for a track that feels as urgent as it is soulful, an anthem that’s already poised to reverberate far beyond South Africa’s borders.

Kukuwe is a collision of hypnotic grooves, smoky vocal layers, and the raw power of Amapiano’s iconic log drum. It’s a record that moves with intention, one built for dancefloors but grounded in spirit and storytelling. Makhanj’s voice cuts through the production with ease, layering intimacy over rhythm, giving the track a heartbeat that feels both global and deeply rooted in home soil.

“This song is about movement, connection, and joy, it’s about letting go and allowing the rhythm to take over,” Makhanj explains. That sense of surrender is stitched into every beat of Kukuwe, a song that manages to be both deeply personal and irresistibly communal. With Stixx and Deeper Phil’s production energy fueling the soundscape, the trio crafts a moment that feels destined for heavy rotation across airwaves and curated sets worldwide.

More than just a single, Kukuwe is a statement of intent. It reflects Amapiano’s rising status as South Africa’s greatest cultural export, but also highlights Makhanj’s role in carrying that sound to new stages. Her journey has been one of constant evolution, from sharing platforms with icons like Black Coffee and Kelvin Momo to being featured on Showmax’s Adulting and stepping into spaces such as Chanel’s Dakar Métiers d’Art showcase. Each stage, each collaboration, each record adds another layer to her artistry, positioning her not only as a voice of the moment, but as one shaping the future.

What makes Kukuwe so compelling is the way it manages to feel both familiar and new. There are the unmistakable Amapiano markers, the log drum thumps, the layered rhythms, but Makhanj threads in a soulful fluidity that is uniquely hers. It’s music that doesn’t just demand to be danced to; it demands to be felt. That emotional resonance is what separates her from the pack and makes her collaborations carry weight well beyond the club.

For Makhanj, this is more than a single release, it’s another chapter in a career that refuses to stay still. Each offering pushes her further into the global conversation, showing how South African artists are rewriting the narrative of dance music on their own terms. With Kukuwe, she, Stixx and Deeper Phil don’t just deliver an anthem, they deliver proof of Amapiano’s unstoppable momentum, and of an artist who is firmly at the centre of it all.