There’s a new Gigi Lamayne in town and she’s bold, unapologetic and here to effect change, beyond the music.
Gigi, whose real name is Genesis Gabriela Manney, recently had a suicide attempt that she refers to as her ‘incident’ and says it has changed the way she views herself, her craft and her purpose.
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“I’ve decided to venture into a whole lot of humanitarian work – people with mental illnesses, specifically depression – because I was diagnosed with depression at 18,” she says of her new path.
“I was going through a huge existential crisis,” she explains of her attempt to take her life.
“I’ve always been a firm believer in ‘the work you put in is the results you get out’. And, I just feel like being a young black youth in SA, there are lots of playing fields that we are told are level that aren’t really level to begin with,” she explains.
“My mom had [also] just gone for a brain tumour operation – cancer – and I was just dealing with a lot of demons. Anyone who knows me knows what I went through as a kid. At some point there was just a build-up of those things and I was just tired.”
She then recounted waking up in ICU, thinking about people who loved and believed in her, such as her mom, Linda Mkhize (Pro Kid) and HHP, and being full of regret at the decision that she had made.
“I could have really dealt with things differently but I believe that it should have happened.”
Gigi has since gone for counselling and says that she has a new perspective on life and what she is here for.
“I feel like my purpose is just bigger than music at this point”.
On her plans for 2019, the word ‘independence’ sums it all up perfectly as Gigi navigates new terrains in management and entrepreneurship.
“We are finishing off the album – it drops early on in 2019. I’m launching my own record label as well; Hart Roc Entertainment and I’ve signed a female DJ, DJ Vera.”
“There are so many people who are looking to me – dead and alive – to bear the torch for Soweto, to bear the torch for young girls who just love to rap, who love to read, who love to get their messages across.”
