“South Africa’s finest female contemporary singer” – The Guardian
“Get to know her unmistakable voice” – The New York Times
THANDISWA MAZWAI
Thandiswa has been one of the most influential post-Apartheid singers in South Africa. She began her career in 1996 with music groups Jack Knife and Bongo Maffin, one of the pioneering bands of the post-Apartheid dance music genre Kwaito. After 6 award-winning albums with Bongo Maffin she ventured onto a solo career.
Her first project ‘Zabalaza’ (2004), reached double platinum status and won numerous awards including a Kora award for Best African Female Artist and Four South African Music Awards. It was also nominated for the BBC Radio 3 Planet Awards. Her critically acclaimed second album ‘Ibokwe’ (2009) reached gold status in the first few weeks of its release and her live DVD ‘Dance of the Forgotten Free’ (2010) won South African Music Awards for Best Female Artist and Best Live DVD in 2011. Thandiswa’s third album Belede (2016), a jazz reinterpretation of South African classics, reached gold status within a few weeks of release
Thandiswa’s latest album Sankofa (2024) includes songs produced by Meshell Ndegeocello and Nduduzo Makhatini, and collaborations with Thandi Ntuli and Tendai Shoko. Sankofa is a Ghanaian Twi word that means ‘to go back and fetch what has been left behind’, the making of Sankofa embodied that idea. Recorded in Johannesburg, Dakar, and New York, the album combines archival Xhosa music field recordings, jazz and west African music.
Thandiswa’s parents were journalists and political activists and she was raised in a home filled with books and thick with political discussions. It was this environment that nurtured her perspective as an artist. Her work has always been inspired by the writings of people like Biko and Fanon, Achebe and Nkrumah, she says, “My work gave me an opportunity to share my thoughts and have a meaningful conversation with my generation about Blackness, Africanness, about some of the social ills that plague us, and also about freedom and joy. Music gave me an opportunity to feed my revolutionary self.” Her music travels travels through the village into the ghetto and raises the roof in the city. Her compositions today include traditional Xhosa rhythms, mbaqanga, reggae, kwaito, funk and jazz. Through this, Thandiswa straddles the urban and the rural, effortlessly melding the traditional with the modern.
Known for her electrifying performances, Thandiswa has performed all over the world at venues including the Apollo Theatre, The Lincoln Centre, The Cannes Film Festival, Africa Express, BBC World Music Awards,TED, Afropunk, Carnegie Hall Citywide Festival, among others. She has collaborated with artists such as Hugh Masekela, Meshell Ndegeocello (including on her 2024 Grammy Winning album), Fatoumata Diawara, Somi, and DJ Black Coffee.
