In isiZulu, ingcindezi means pressure. The track features award-winning gospel vocalist Putuma Tiso, whose voice carries the prayer at the heart of the song, and comes from Mthuthu's new album Ntuthuko ("progress"), released on 25 September 2026 through Next Music.

The song was born of hard times. During and after COVID, Mthuthu lost his car, his job and the place where he was staying. Financial strain followed, and then depression, which was with him while he recorded the album. He paused the work, then wrote "Ingcindezi" as a record of what he was living through.

"I used to keep quiet and think I was protecting myself," he said. "I was not."

Mthuthu, born Ntuthuko Ndebele in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, draws on Nguni folk, praise poetry and spiritual song. His message here cuts against a common grain. Mental health, he notes, remains an uncomfortable subject in many black communities, often treated as weakness and kept private. He wrote the song to say the opposite: acknowledging weakness is how a person faces it, and asking for help, from God, family, a friend or a professional, is not failure. "Acceptance is stronger than denial."

Writing it changed how he copes. He once isolated himself; now he says people live in an ecosystem and need one another. "Asking for help is not weakness," he said.

Listening back after finishing the song helped him see his life more clearly, and he says the track began to heal him slowly. He is still dealing with emotional stress, and believes he will recover. "October is Mental Health Month. For too long we have treated depression as something to hide. Face it. Speak. Trust God. Find people who can help you. You come first. I am still fighting, and I believe I will recover."

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