In this ‘Listed’ feature, we get to know the most radicalist up-and-coming stars through a themed list of their top musical picks.  

This time it’s South African-born, London-based Renaissance woman Gina Kushka.

Kushka’s story is a truly compelling one. Having grown up in the cultural melting pot of South Africa, thousands of miles from anything most of us in the UK have ever known, Kushka soaked up all that was on offer in her native Cape Town and began voraciously nurturing her musical abilities. She taught herself to play guitar, write songs, paint, not to mention cultivating an agile yet remarkably powerful voice.

Now settled in the western metropolis of London, Kushka is in high demand as a songwriter. Since the last time we spoke with her, she’s been working with some of the most sought-after names, crafting hits for the likes of Sigala, Jonas Blue and Ray BLK, but felt a strong calling to dedicate time to her solo material. She returned 3 months ago with the rousing single ‘Cure’ and only recently dropped the second track from her upcoming EP (due for release next year), the haunting, epic ‘Prayer’.

Speaking of the track, Kushka has said "I wrote ‘Prayer’ when my anxieties were at their peak; they were entirely arresting and almost broke me. Writing music and making art is how I deal with anything and everything, so I wrote this song as an ode to myself. It was a letter to my anxieties, finally confronting and fighting them. I know that a lot of people suffer from anxiety as I do, so I wanted to share a message that might help people believe that they can also fight their demons and realise their self worth.”

Despite her anxieties Kushka has proved herself an artist with a formidable presence, and indeed an intriguing back story to boot. We thought it would be interesting to get to know Kushka a little better through a curated playlist of her own choosing. So here are the top 10 tracks that have soundtracked her life…

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1. Olivia Newton John - ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’

This was the song of my babydom... my mom would put Grease on for us to watch all the time and I’d rock from side to side in a sort of trance when this song came on, just staring into space. I think it turned me into a hopeless romantic from way too young.



2. Ladysmith Black Mambazo – ‘Inkanyezi Nezazi’

I was born and raised in South Africa and our nannies (who were like second moms to us) would sing African songs to us and teach us the traditional dances. Shosholoza and the national anthem were the ones we found easiest to sing back and dance to... that’s probably how I first learnt to sing. This song though makes me feel like I'm home when I hear it.



3. Queen - ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

My mom introduced Queen to me when I was a kid and the drama and epic musicality got me totally hooked. I've been acting and singing from super young and I always asked to sing Queen songs so I could do both at once... Freddie Mercury's performances are mesmerising.



4. Led Zeppelin - ‘Whole Lotta Love’

We do the same yearly road trips up to this beach spot in South Africa since forever, and this is one of the best road trip songs I can remember being played in the car... I'm obsessed with literally all of Led Zep. We had a lot of old rock band records at home...



5. Alicia Keys - ‘Fallin'’

When I really started taking singing seriously, Alicia and Christina Aguilera were the artists I wanted to listen to all the time. I bought Alicia's album, Songs in A Minor and Christina Aguilera’s Stripped with my own pocket money and tried to sing every song on their albums. I always felt something special when I sang ‘Fallin'’... it’s a timeless classic.



6. Blink 182 - ‘I Miss You’

So I discovered boys, and this was my first break up song... still get the same feels when I listen to it now. Lil’ emo kid at heart...



7. Red Hot Chili Peppers - ‘By The Way’ 

A lot of my friends were bandies growing up; we listened to a lot of punk, rock/ indie music... the melodies, the hooks, the lyrics, the skill in rock music was amazing to me - it’s special. I could list a ton of bands that were super formative for me if we had room on this list. This was the first song though that I learnt to play on guitar that I was actually proud to show off :)



8. Eminem - ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’ 

I love Hip Hop... the honesty of it. Eminem was and always will be a hero and a great to me - his songs helped me through a lot growing up, this song being one of them. I also fell in love with Biggie, Jay-Z, N.W.A, Kanye, and a South African duo called Die Antwoord who are so unique and killing it...



9. Coldplay - ‘The Scientist’

So I was thinking “do I choose Coldplay or Bon Iver here...” they're both up there in my favourite bands. But this song has been hugely important to me, and I've returned to it over and over and over again and never stop going back. I think it holds a special importance to a certain time in my life that was pretty tough, and at that same time, I was learning to write music. The poetry in this song is exquisite, and the story in a song is so important to me; I've always felt when I'm writing though, that I can never quite do the story I'm trying to tell justice, because I always feel like I'm compromising somewhere. Chris Martin manages to do it all perfectly here.



10. Leonard Cohen - ‘Suzanne’

Leonard Cohen's one of my mom's favourite artists... she played me his music throughout my life and it's stuck with me forever. I listen to a lot of Leonard Cohen now when writing music and this song is important to my mom and always reminds me of her, so it’s a special one...



Look out for Gina Kushka’s new EP arriving next year!

-Karl Jawara