Tiwa Savage, Thandiswa Mazwai for African Voices

This week’s edition of Globacom-sponsored African Voices on CNN International will feature Nigerian female music super star, Tiwa Savage.

The 30-minute magazine programme, which highlights Africa’s most engaging personalities who are shaping the continent in different areas of life, is shown on CNN on Friday at 10.30 a.m., with repeat broadcasts at 4.30 p.m. on Saturday, and at 12.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. on Sunday. There are further repeats at 11.30 a.m. on Monday and at 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Globacom said in a press statement on Friday that Tiwa would be the guest on the programme alongside South Africa’s musician, Thandiswa Mazwai.

Tiwa Savage burst into Nigeria’s music scene in 2010 when she released her smash hit Kele Kele Love. Her other hit singles include Love, Love Me (3x), Without My Heart and Ife wa gbona.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Tiwa graduated from the University of Kent in the United Kingdom with a degree in business administration and accounts. She however decided to forgo accounting when she got an opportunity to be a back-up singer for Mary J. Blige.  She has also performed for internationally acclaimed artists such as Chaka Khan, George Michael, Emma Bunton (Spice Girls), Blu Cantrell and Kelly Clarkson. She has worked with notable producers such as Black Eyed Peas drummer Keith Harris, Oak Warren Felder (Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown), Babyface and many others.

The second guest on the programme, Thandiswa Mazwai, is regarded as one of the most influential musicians in South Africa. She is also the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bongo Maffin.  She was raised in Soweto by parents who were both journalists and anti-apartheid political activists. 

The heavy apartheid township violence of the 1980s, Thandiswa says, shaped her perspective as an artiste. She adds that her work has always been inspired by the writings of people like Steve Biko, Frantz Fanon, Chinua Achebe and Kwame Nkuruma.