Young Music Artistes on African Voices
The issue of young musical artistes who are breaking new grounds and pushing their craft to new heights on the continent takes centre stage on this weekend’s edition of CNN’s African Voices sponsored by data grand masters, Globacom.
African Voices is aired on CNN International at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, 4.30 p.m. on Saturday, and at 12.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. on Sunday. There are also repeat broadcasts at 11.30 a.m. on Monday and 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday.
According to a statement by Globacom, this week’s programme promised to be as entertaining and informative as previous editions. The young musicians to be featured on the programme are Noluvuyiso Mpofu and Busiswa of South Africa and Sauti Sol of Kenya, the company stated.
Mpofu is described by CNN as a powerful opera singer who is using her voice to open doors and turn heads not just in her native South Africa but also on the African continent and beyond. “In Nairobi we catch up with Sauti Sol, a band whose special sound makes you want to get up and dance – just ask President Obama,” the CNN vignette on the programme stated. It also describes Busiswa as “a dance club sensation who is taking poetic license with pop music”.
Mpofu won third prize at the 2015 Operalia, an international competition founded by the renowned opera star Placido Dominigo. It takes place each year in a different opera house around the world. At the finals of the 35th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition took place in Cape Town earlier this year, she made it through the preliminary rounds, which began with 854 participants worldwide, and was one of four South Africans in the final 16. She ended up overall second.
Sauti Sol is Kenya’s leading afro-pop band which has gained international attention with shows in Europe and the US. Besides winning the Best Group award at 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs), the band has also received both local and international accolades and nominations including the Kisima Music Awards, Channel O Music Video Awards, MTV Europe Music Award for Best African Act and BET Awards 2015. The band has collaborated with some Nigerian artistes including Tu Face Idibia (Tu Baba) and Yemi Alade.
The final guest, Busiswa, describes herself as “a spoken word artist or poet”. She is also famously known as Kalawa Chikita. Her story is particularly intriguing, having started out just as a poet in 2004 and transcending to become to a maker of songs which easily became club ‘bangers’. They include Lahla and Ngoku.
