Dobet Gnahoré

IVORY COAST

Dobet Gnahoré is a powerful Ivorian singer who produces rich African music, blending influences that range from Cameroonian bikutsi, East African rumba, Manding music and reggae. Born to a musical family, Gnahoré is the daughter of percussionist Boni Ngahoré (who often performs with her) and the sister of musician Black k. She moved to Marseille, France, in 1999 due to the civil war in her home country. Her lyrics often deal with pressing social issues, including the importance of family and AIDS. Her music ranges from delicate ballads to upbeat grooves. Inspired by the likes of Angélique Kidjo, Gnahoré strives for a unified Africa and boldly represents the plight of African women.

MEUTE

GERMANY

MEUTE is unique the world over – a techno marching band that creates thumping live dance music with acoustic instruments. Made up of eleven drummers and horn players from Hamburg, Germany, MEUTE has pioneered a whole new genre by combining hypnotic techno with expressive brass band music. In doing so, the band has liberated electronic music from the digital realm of DJs and producers, while paying homage to the roots of dance music at the same time. In just two years the band has become one of Europe’s most booked festival bands and is going to set the perfect mood on the opening night of Zakifo Music Festival.

SHO MADJOZI

SOUTH AFRICA

SHO MADJOZI is a South African rapper, poet, and style icon known for rapping in her native tongue Tsonga, over hard house and gqom-infused beats. She was born in Limpopo, to a white father and black Tsonga mother, but spent most of her teenage years in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She studied in the US and then returned to SA and took up a fellowship in writing at the University of Johannesburg. Her early work delved into themes of race, identity and politics. Collaborations with local heavyweights launched her career and her hit single ‘Huku’ rocked airwaves and dance floors across the nation. She released her debut album Limpopo Champions League in 2018, which features guest appearances from Kwesta, pH, Makwa and Ycee.

SANDS

ESWATINI

Sands is a Swazi singer-songwriter, whose sweet voice and infectious beats first hit the South African airwaves in 2016 with the hit single ‘Tigi’. This laid-back afro-soul singer is all about love, romance and harmony – and is one of the first SiSwati musicians to gain popularity in Mzansi.

His music blends influences of popular South African genres kwaito and house, while also drawing on elements of jazz and hip hop. Sands (who began performing under his birth name Sandziso) studied music at the University of Swaziland and recently released his debut album, Sands of Time, on the record label CCA (Cape Collective Assist).

RED ROBYN

SOUTH AFRICA

Red Robyn is a brutally honest and personal singer/songwriter from Durban, South Africa. Strongly influenced by jazz, her music reflects current times and her personal journey as an artist and young woman. Performing regularly at local venues and collaborating with exciting Durban producers and musicians like Easy Freak and MISSU established her as a rising talent. She has recently graced stages across the country with her beautiful, heartfelt ballads. Red Robyn plays piano and guitar and says she “makes music for the dreamers”. Her songwriting often draws on her identity as a coloured/mixed-race female in post-apartheid South Africa.

PUTS MARIE

SWITZERLAND

PUTS MARIE is a five-piece indie rock band from Biel, Switzerland. The band’s emotive rock & roll sound is driven by powerful song-writing, while drawing on the eclectic influences of everything from hip hop to jazz and soul. The band was formed in 2000 in a quiet small town in Switzerland and after nearly 20 years of making music together, exploring all possible genres, Puts Marie continues to experiment and produce a dark and unusual form of indie rock. With six studio albums and a cult following, Puts Marie is bound to create a hypnotic, dreamy soundscape on the opening night.

ALIBOMBO

COLOMBIA

Experimental percussive band Alibombo is unique the world over. Their music is inventive, intriguing, weird and wonderful, and is described as “Percussion with everything, for everyone!” Band members Juan Pablo Osorio and David Colorado create live beats and layers of sound using a loop station and a strange array of objects – including a bicycle tire, a plastic bin and a jacket zipper to name a few. The mesmerizing experience is about live music production AND creating sound gadgets from recycled material. The result is a journey though joyful dance rhythms and grooves. Alibombo’s sound also draws on traditional Columbian music such as Cumbia, Porro and currulao.

BLINKY BILL

KENYA

Blinky Bill is a Kenyan musician, DJ and producer. He is a founding member of the Kenyan electronic music and art collective Just a Band with whom he has released three albums. His deep, raspy flows are melodic and laid-back, as he croons over futuristic beats that ease between electronic, Afro-beat, funk and hip hop. He was a participant at the Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo in 2014, has played at The Cape Town Jazz Festival, Littlegig in Stellenbosch, the TED Conference in Vancouver and was included in the 2018 Yerba Buena Centre of the Arts YBCA100 – a list of 100 people shifting culture and creating change. His name ‘Blinky Bill’ references a 90s cartoon about a koala bear that wanders the Outback in search of adventure.

MR EAZI

NIGERIA

MR EAZI is a singer/songwriter, and pioneer of Banku music – a fusion sound he describes as a mixture of Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian chord progressions.

Mr Eazi began his career in 2008, performing at college parties while studying mechanical engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He released the debut mixtape About to Blow in 2013 and a second mixtape Life Is Eazi, Vol. 1 – Accra To Lagos in 2017. The single ‘Skin Tight’ propelled him into the international limelight and sparked major record deals that truly announced his arrival. Mr Eazi’s lighthearted R&B and Afro-beat sounds will be warming hearts at the Ascend Rooftop, overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Lindigo

REUNION

Experimental percussive band Alibombo is unique the world over. Their music is inventive, intriguing, weird and wonderful, and is described as “Percussion with everything, for everyone!” Band members Juan Pablo Osorio and David Colorado create live beats and layers of sound using a loop station and a strange array of objects – including a bicycle tire, a plastic bin and a jacket zipper to name a few. The mesmerizing experience is about live music production AND creating sound gadgets from recycled material. The result is a journey though joyful dance rhythms and grooves. Alibombo’s sound also draws on traditional Columbian music such as Cumbia, Porro and currulao.

T.R.C.

SOUTH AFRICA

Cape Town-based ensemble, Tune and Recreation Committee strives to explore and re-invent South African jazz heritage. Their music is sporadic, impulsive and steeped in history. Formed in 2007 and led by trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni, the alliance features Clement Benny on drums, Nicholas Williams on bass and Reza Khota on guitar. Their new album, Afrika Grooves with the Tune Recreation Committee is multi-faceted presentation, molded by collaboration and musical exchange between three Standard Bank Young Artists For Jazz; Afrika Mkhize (2012), Mark Fransman (2008) and Mandla Mlangeni (2019). The TRC is an ever changing and adaptable ensemble committed to building a musical bridge between the past, present and future. The band is known for re-inventing original tunes and drawing on various genres from Balkan folk to American funk, West African high life and South African free jazz.

KID FONQUE

SOUTH AFRICA

KID FONQE has been a vital figure in South African electronic music for two decades. As a DJ, producer, label owner and radio host he’s helped pioneer and consolidate the local scene. With a soundscape that embraces everything from bass and broken beats to bossa nova, hip hop and every shade of house, Kid Fonque has been shaking dance floors at home and abroad for many years. Despite the international foundation of his sound, his music has a strong African identity. Kid Fonque has toured Hong Kong, Dubai, the UK and Switzerland. His influence on the scene is evident in the music of the many artists he’s nurtured as label manager of Africa’s seminal dance label, Soul Candi Records

BUHLEBENDALO

SOUTH AFRICA

is the lead female vocalist of the The Soil – a phenomenal acapella group that has gained global renown for its powerful, moving soul ballads. Buhle recently launched her solo career and is working on a debut album. The new venture is giving her the opportunity to work with a band, which will embrace an authentic African sound while confronting issues like SA’s justice system, spirituality, women’s rights and love. In a recent interview, she described herself as “A bold Sowetan who is unapologetically ghetto. I'm a mother, a healer, an activist, a creator and humanitarian.” Known to be outspoken, Buhle graduated as a sangoma (traditional healer) in 2016 and runs a charity organization called The Soil Sista Project.

Ben Harper

USA

Ben Harper is a musical icon – a singularly powerful songwriter and performer with range across multiple genres and an ability to blend personal experience and political awareness. He’s produced 15 studio albums since his debut in 1994 and has performed the world-over. Harper’s unique and exquisitely tender blend of rock & roll, folk and blues raised a massive global following over two decades and won him three Grammy Awards. Born in California, Harper grew up skateboarding and making music – playing his first gig at 12 years old. As an activist, Harper has used his voice to fight against the expansion of nuclear power as well as supporting freedom in Tibet and Burma. Ben Harper is a prolific artist and a seminal figure in contemporary music. To experience his beautiful melodies drifting through the Durban Botanic Gardens is sure to be a highlight of the festival.

DOPE SAINT JUDE

South Africa

DOPE SAINT JUDE is a brave and independent voice in South African hip hop. Through her music and public persona she creates alternative narratives for marginalised groups, particularly the gay community. “Most people explore racial oppression in hip hop, but why don't we explore gender or queerness?” She said in a recent interview. A former drag king-turned-musician, the Cape Town-born rapper arrived on the scene in 2013. 2018 was a breakthrough year, with her single ‘Grrrl Like’ getting rave reviews across the globe. She’s quickly gaining a cult following,  and there seems no stopping her rise to the very top.

SKYE WANDA

SOUTH AFRICA

SKYE WANDA is a phenomenal vocalist, who can sing like Etta James and rap like Lauren Hill. She started singing as a child and later fell in love with hip hop, starting to rap when she was 17. Skye sings in both English and isiZulu, shifting between sounds and genres from afro-jazz to gospel, R&B and hip hop. In 2016 she opened for Kelly Price at the Essence festival in New Orleans and she has collaborated with a number of accomplished artists, including Zakwe, Benny Maverick, Duncan, Dj Ganyani and Dj Gukwa to name a few. Her lyrics delve into topics of religion, love and struggle.

MAKE-OVERS

SOUTH AFRICA

“Never before have two such undistinguished-looking individuals made such an addictive racket,” – this quote sums up the radical South African garage rock band, Make-Overs. The duo (and couple) Martinique Pelser and Andreas Schönfeldt, representing backwater Pretoria, have been shaking stages with their wild anthems for close to a decade.

Their live show is often accompanied by psychedelic visuals that create an immersive audio-visual experience. The duo has recorded and released a number of their own records, true to the original DIY spirit of garage and punk.

MOONCHILD

SOUTH AFRICA

Moonchild Sanelly is a funky vocalist and fly girl from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The singer and dancer with big blue hair has been spicing up the airwaves with her original sound for several years, collaborating with cutting edge local artists and rocking festivals across the nation. She made a name for herself in the Durban music and poetry scene before relocated to Johannesburg, where she has flourished. Moochild toured Europe with Die Antwoord and has performed alongside major artists including Gorillaz, Thandiswa Mazwai, Maphorisa, WizKid, Madala Kunene, BLK JKS, Damon Albarn, Gcina Hlope and Busi Mhlongo. Her sound is an upbeat, fiery blend of hip hop, electronic, jazz and kwaito, pioneering what she calls ‘future ghetto punk’.

MAIA & THE BIG SKY

KENYA

Maia Lekow is a soulful Kenyan singer and explosive live performer. Daughter of musical legend Sal Davis, her magnetic vocals in Swahili and English are woven into the hypnotic African rhythms of the Big Sky band – creating a warm, vibrant sound that transcends borders. Maia & The Big Sky has graced festival stages across the African content as well as the UK and Australia. Her second studio album, Maia & The Big Sky LP, is the culmination of a five-year musical journey exploring the songs and rhythms of her coastal homeland.

GRANMAH

MOZAMBIQUE

GRANMAH is a Mozambican reggae/dub band that produces classic ‘feel good’ music. The band has spread its positive vibrations across the southern African festival circuit,

In 2014, Granmah won Best Alternative Song at the Mozambique Music Awards and the band released its self-titled debut album in 2015. Granmah recently toured the US and Portugal and are bound to bring tropical fun and irie jams to the Zakifo Music Festival.

BHEKI NQOKO

SOUTH AFRICA

Bheki Nqoko is a singer, songwriter, arranger, engineer and producer – to mention few of his myriad of skills and roles as an artist. He was born into a devout Christian family with a father who is a church leader. In the formative years he sang at school and church choirs, often taking a leading role in this regard. So at a young age he thought he would be a gospel singer, but fate eventually dictated otherwise. The rich variety of Durban’s musical traditions steered him towards secular sounds that included pop, hip hop, folk, choral, jazz and

others.