Babes Wodumo on her journey: Fame wasn’t what it looked like from the outside

Babes Wodumo always believed she was meant to be a superstar, but when Wololo blew up‚ she quickly discovered just how unprepared she was for fame.

In an interview with Sowetan LIVE‚ the gqom queen said growing up, she always knew she wanted to be on big stages and thought she was ready but when it happened‚ fame wasn’t what she expected.

“To be honest, I thought I was ready for fame because I knew from a long time ago that I was meant for big stages. I was ready until I got here then I realised fame wasn’t what it looked like from the outside and I wasn’t as ready as I thought‚” she said.

Babes not only became one of the most recognisable faces in Mzansi, but she also caught the attention of international superstars. Other than being nominated for the international BET awards, she had Major Lazer’s DJ Diplo seeking her out for a collaboration.

The Wololo hit-maker explained that she realised she had to be mentally prepared for the changes that being Babes Wodumo would bring to the life of Bongekile Simelane.

“When I got here I realised that mentally, I needed to restart and because everything happened so fast, I had to get the basics right. To walk into a place and have people go crazy and scream for me and such was overwhelming.

“Every day, I had to remind myself that I’m famous now. And also because of the huge demand‚ I never had time to myself to internalise everything. I had too many gigs and so many other things that needed my attention”

Babes said with some things, she learnt the hard way like being burnt out because of a lack of rest.

“There was a point it all got too much. I started missing some gigs and it looked like fame got to my head but that wasn’t the case. I was just still learning how to be Babes Wodumo without hurting herself in the process.” — Sowetan