Just Leo releases ‘Sanabwelela’
A song that speaks to love, loss, and the silent battles people fight
Just Leo releases ‘Sanabwelela’ – Just Leo is set to release her new Afro Fusion project titled ‘Sanabwelela,’ out today, 15 January. The project is an emotionally driven body of work that speaks to love, loss, and the silent battles many people fight away from the public eye.
‘Sanabwelela’ means “they never came back.” It draws on war imagery as a metaphor for emotional and mental struggles. Depression, emotional neglect, gender-based violence, and the pressure to survive without support. The project reflects on people who emotionally disappear long before they physically leave.
Through Afro Fusion sounds and heartfelt storytelling, Just Leo creates a space for reflection, empathy, and honest conversation. ‘Sanabwelela’ is both a lament and a call for awareness. Encouraging listeners to check in on one another and acknowledge grief without shame.
The project is be available now on all major digital streaming platforms.
More about Just Leo
Raised in the heart of Victoria Falls, Just Leo is a powerful Afro-fusion storyteller. She grounds her artistry in culture, community, and consciousness. As one of the few young artists actively preserving Zimbabwe’s rich linguistic heritage, she creates multilingual music that celebrates and fights to revive fading indigenous languages spoken in her hometown and across the country. These include Nyanja/Chichewa, Tonga, Nambya, and other regional tongues.
With a voice that carries both tenderness and fire, Just Leo writes with intention. Her music directly confronts realities many shy away from. Mental health struggles, depression, suicidal thoughts, gender-based violence, drug and substance abuse, and the silent battles fought in homes and hearts. Her work is a safe space, a mirror, and a message. It offers comfort to the hurting and courage to the rising.
Musically, she blends Afro-fusion, traditional African rhythms, live instrumentation, and modern soundscapes to create performances that feel spiritual, ancestral, communal, and proudly African. Together with the Simuniziva Band, she honours elders through sound while amplifying the voices of the youth through message.
Every song speaks directly to her people, affirming that healing is possible, heritage is powerful, and no voice or language is ever too small to matter.
Just Leo is not making music alone. She is preserving culture. Documenting pain. Amplifying hope. Raising a new generation of African storytellers.
