Shona fide

Chiwoniso strikes a note of hope for Zimbabwe

REBELLIOUS: Chiwoniso

by ERIN MACLEOD

Chiwoniso Maraire, who grew up in both America and Zimbabwe, has been making music, drawing from a mass of influences and experiences, for as long as she can remember. At the age of nine, she first entered a studio to sing, and at age 11, she joined her father in their family band Mhuri yaMaraire. When she moved back to Zimbabwe as a teenager, she became involved in hip hop group A Peace of Ebony. Her first album, Ancient Voices, was released in 1997 to critical acclaim.

It’s taken 10 years and three continents, however, to create Rebel Woman. Working in Africa, the U.K. and the U.S. with producer Keith Farquharson, Chiwoniso has fashioned an album that is soft, intense, entertaining, outspoken and fun, all at the same time. The woman of the title track represents a sense of being of both the past and the present, defiant yet maintaining hope. The attitude and the sound are emblematic of variety—this is a musician that’s hard to pin down.

“Someone said to me that when I sing, it’s obvious that my roots are from Africa,” she explains. “I sing in Shona and in English and I play the mbira as an instrument. There is a lot of Zimbabwe in my music. At the same time, there are all these other elements that don’t put me in a box. Sometimes when I have been asked to perform or work on some music, because of my name and the fact that I’m from Zimbabwe, people assume that I only half-speak English, and the music is going to be traditional. But I have been exposed to all these different musical styles, so I bring in a different way of playing the mbira without taking away from the value of what the instrument means. Within my music, I have never felt that I have needed to adhere to any particular rules.”

At the moment, there’s not a lot of good news out of Zimbabwe. Chiwoniso represents a voice of resilience. When asked about the situation in her home country, a country that she has left alongside her two daughters, she quickly replies, “In a state of conflict and pressure, I know a lot of artists tend to thrive creatively.” Here’s hoping that she continues to thrive, and that her country can follow.

AT KOLA NOTE ON FRIDAY,
SEPT. 12, 8 P.M., $25