Muso Thandiswa Mazwai during her appearance on Tiny Desk. Picture: nprmusic/Instagram
Parents aren’t usually seen as vessels of anything cool by their offspring, but performing on one of the world’s most hip live music performance platforms can sure move the needle for any guardian.
This has been the case for seasoned muso Thandiswa Mazwai after her awaited performance on the Tiny Desk Concert dropped on April fool’s Day which has left her daughter Malaika, and the rest of the country, proud.
Thandiswa announced earlier this year that she’ll be performing on Tiny Desk, this after her show in New York at globaFEST in January.
One of GlobalFEST’s partners is NPR Music, which is popular for its Tiny Desk Concerts. Since 2020 NPR teamed up with GlobalFEST for an online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST.
Last year’s Tiny Desk Meets GlobalFEST was hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo.
Tiny Desk Concerts is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR Music, established in April 2008.
ALSO READ: ‘I cannot believe it’s been 20 years’ – Thandiswa Mazwai on new album and 20 years of ‘Zabalaza’
It was a proud moment for many South Africans who flooded the comments section of the video on YouTube, with a common thread of pride driving throughout the messages.
The heartfelt messages were led by Thandiswa’s daughter.
“Oh my mommy. I’m immensely proud of you,” commented Malaika on YouTube.
While Thandiswa’s fans shared photos of themselves watching the performance, Malaika shared her elation of seeing her mother on the coveted platform, at times coming off as gloating.
“Trolling aside, I’m so proud of my mom. The album sounds soooo beautiful and so personal. I’ve been listening to it slowly so i can take it in and wow. Tiny Desk and GlobalFEST were the beginning of new heights,” averred Malaika, whose father is muso and media personality Stoan Seate.
Thandiswa celebrated her 48th birthday over the Easter Weekend and Malaika paid homage to her and reflected on their relationship.
“Happy birthday to my one true love, my mommy and best friend. I love you more than Nutella and taking naps. 48 has never looked so good sana,” Malaika wrote on her X account.
ALSO READ: “It has been hard finding the time to work together,” Thandiswa on Bongo Maffin exit
The Tiny Desk performance seems like the beginning of what’s expected to be a busy next few months for the seasoned vocalist, with the her fourth upcoming album Sankofa expected to be released on April 12.
US singer-songwriter and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello produced a few ditties on Sankofa, while there is also contribution from jazz artist Nduduzo Makhathini.
During her Tiny Desk Concert Thandiswa performed classics from her discography including Abenguni and Ingoma.
Her band was made up of Thabang Tabane (son of Phillip Tabane) on percussion, bassist Tendai Ali Shoko, drummer Lungile (Lulu) Maduna, guitarist Sunnyboy Mthimunye and Xolani Thabethe on keys.
Thandiswa also performed unreleased song Children of the Soil which expected to be on the album.
The word Sankofa is derived from the Akan Tribe of Ghana that can be translated into “go back and get it”.
The essence of the meaning symbolises going back, so one can move forward.
In a sit-down with Paul Mnisi and DJ Sbu last year on the podcast House of Sankofa, Mazwai said she dug into the International Library of African Music (ILAM) at Rhodes University which is an archive of African sounds.
“They gave me access to some of the archive about 10, 15 years ago and I’ve, kind of, been sitting with this stuff at home looking at it. But finally, last year [2022] it made sense what I was going to do with it,” said the Zabalaza singer. Mazwai said she mostly took Xhosa music from the library.
NOW READ: Thandiswa Mazwai’s stellar New York performance earns praise from sister Ntsiki
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