Curiosity is universal, especially among kids, and it can quickly spark. Many people remember a moment in childhood when curiosity came over their young, budding minds, making them wonder how people on TV screens fit perfectly inside a small boxed gadget without falling out, no matter how much they moved. That curiosity can be heightened among artsy kids with an innate fascination with music and an eye for dance or film.  South African artist Blulyt is well conversant with this experience. 

Not only was she enamoured with how these TV personalities came to be, but she also set herself a target to one day be on TV like all the celebrities, including Ciara and Beyonce, who had piqued her interest. “You know, when we’re young, we ask ourselves, how do these people get inside the TV?” She asked me rhetorically over a Zoom call on a sunny Monday morning in October. “I always told my family that one day I’m gonna be inside this TV. I don’t know how I’ll get inside, but I know I’ll be inside this TV.”

Growing up with eclectic influences, Blulyt’s gravitation toward entertainment was, in retrospect, inevitable. At only five-year-old, she began performing in her mum’s dance group, channeling her intrinsic energy to acclimatise herself to the demands of music and dance while also singing in church. Those formative years armed her with an unshakeable belief in herself and now form a large part of her artistic identity. “I never stopped living who I always believed I was born to be,” she says. “I always believed that I was one of the few people who were called to be an entertainer.” She would go on to develop her craft for years, becoming a qualified dancer and bagging a degree in Dramatic Arts with encouragement and advice from her mum, who insisted that a degree was crucial in helping her achieve her dreams. 

Blulyt’s multidimensional professional career, spanning dancing, singing, and acting, has been on a steady incline ever since she left her hometown, Mahikeng, for Johannesburg, culminating in her signing with  Nigerian record label, Pond Entertainment, in 2025. Her debut single under the label, “Shak’a Wena,” masterfully blended Afropop and Amapiano for a high-energy, uptempo record. Within the same year, she released “CELEBRATION” featuring Victor AD. Her most recent release, a debut EP titled ‘Shades of Blu,’ is the artist’s way of communicating different facets of her artistry to audiences, and every song on the project carries a separate yet cohesive vibe. “They sound different intentionally because that’s what I wanted to put out there to get the versatility of my music,” she admits. 

The five-track project spans a total of 17 minutes, opening with “Kontrol,” a R&B track in which she sensually sings about choosing to give control to a partner within the context of intimacy and desire. The second track, “Ready,” retains the R&B influences of the opener but expands the framework with Pop-inflected melodies, touching on love and heartbreak. “Want It All,” the likely star turn of the project, comes next, and she admits that it’s her favourite song on the project.“It’s one song that’s very close to my heart because I know where I’m coming from,” she shares. “It’s not been easy in my own life or with what I’ve tried achieving in life. It reveals the hunger, the side of me that longs for success. Cameras, attention, lights, entertainment, and the full experience of how true life is.” 

In the music video for “Want It All,” Blulyt reaches deeply into herself, stripping off the glitz and glamour, and opts for largely compassionate visual imagery to capture the hopelessness that accompanies being a fervent dreamer. “I actually wrote the script, and I partially directed the shoot because I understand the lyrics more,” she says. “I wanted people to feel the song, even though they can’t hear. And I wanted people who can hear to see the visuals.” 

The penultimate track on her EP, “Teka,” is an upbeat Amapiano song built solely to ignite euphoric and happy moments. The concluding track, “Areyeng,” which translates to  ‘let’s go’ in English, is a piano-driven, groovy, TikTok-friendly anthemic record. The EP as a whole serves the purpose it was designed for from the moment it was put together as a reflection of the different forms of sonic self-expression that Blulyt is capable of and her ability to combine them into a harmonious repertoire.

Through it all, Blulyt remains true to her roots, treating her entrance into the limelight as an extension of who she has always been rather than a new beginning. She is optimistic about shaping her craft into something that listeners can stay connected to without compromising her originality, especially in an era where AI music is rapidly infiltrating the world’s musical soundscape. “I hope that my listeners feel pure bliss of authentic sounds, sounds that are not influenced by AI music,” she says. “Sounds that are motivational, that keep them close to their dreams or how best they want to feel.”  

In the pursuit of that authenticity, she admits that she’s learning how to be patient, fervent in her abilities, and unfettered about how the world perceives her: “I’m one person who wants to be as real and as authentic as possible. I don’t seek validation. I don’t seek fame or any of these things. This chapter has taught me to always be grounded in who I know I am.”

Truly, her journey, the story of a young woman who won’t give up on her goals, has been nothing short of inspiring. As our conversation draws to a close, Blulyt, born Nonofang Disetlhe, goes back to the beginning with a message for the then five-year-old girl whose curiosity catalysed an interest that would follow her for the rest of her life. “I’d tell my younger self that you’re doing well,” she says after some consideration. “You didn’t have to be hard on yourself growing up. You know, we grow up, and we always think, ‘Oh, I wish I did this, I wish I did that.’ But I will tell my younger self that it’s okay. You still got this. You still made yourself even more proud.”

Listen to ‘Shades of Blu’ here.