With the launch of the Malawi Folktales and Folksongs Database, Malawi has emerged as a trailblazer in leveraging digital technology to preserve its intangible cultural heritage and sharing this rich legacy with the world. The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) was one of the first national radio stations in Africa to digitise its deteriorating reel-to-reel tapes. This initiative safeguarded an invaluable archive that was on the brink of being lost and has been followed by similar digitisa...| African Poems
When listening to the “gale-force vocals” of Sory Kandia Kouyaté or the soaring vibrato of Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté, I have often wondered how these griot artists master their crafts and what kind of training they undergo. Thus, discovering the documentary “Da Kali: The Pledge to the Art of the Griot” is a revelation. Guided by Lucy Durán — an ethnologist, record producer, radio broadcaster, and Professor of Music at SOAS — the film crew returns to Mali annually to document the...| African Poems
Born in 1936, Joseph Nangalambe was a prolific composer, guitar player and singer who disguised the underlying meanings of his songs through coded metaphors and allegory. In the following track, Nangalambe sings in the Yao language about a mysterious man called Che Poison. The singer describes travelling to stay overnight in different districts of Malawi, knowing that when he awakes he will find Che Poison there. But who is this mysterious man Che Poison? Che Poyi, makes me wonder, makes me w...| African Poems
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the son of the esteemed Yorùbá poet, Lanrewaju Adepọju (1940 - 2023), for providing both the transcription and translation into English of a poem from Chief Adepọju’s collection (see also Ìlú le! and I Dreamt of Riches). “Ibi A Baye De L’ewu” (translated here as “World in Dangerous Times”) is crafted in the manner of a “fire and brimstone” sermon, employing vivid imagery of judgment and eternal damnation to call for repentance. Adep...| African Poems
This is a Makuleya song from Malawi that tackles the theme of superstition in a satirical manner. The song revolves around accusations of witchcraft, specifically whether a person who owns an animal horn filled with magical charms should be allowed to remain in the community. The women singers who open the song state that the one who possesses the witchcraft horn should be allowed to stay. But the chorus states to the contrary that the one who does not possess such a horn be allowed to stay. ...| African Poems
Within the Yorùbá culture, there exists a tradition of bestowing upon children names that reflect the extraordinary circumstances of their birth. Known as “Names brought from heaven” (Orúkọ Àmútọ̀runwá), these appellations are imparted upon the newborn by individuals like asagbẹ̀bí (midwives), or occasionally by parents or grandparents who played a role in the birthing process. It is these individuals who, having witnessed the circumstances surrounding the child's arrival, ar...| African Poems
The Chinamwali ceremonies, deeply rooted in Cheŵa-speaking communities across Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, represent initiation rituals exclusive to Cheŵa women. In this recording, we hear the women leading the ceremony calling upon the Chief of the Kasungu district to grant his authority for the traditional rituals to begin. Reed mats are laid out for the initiates to sit upon in the homestead where the ceremony will commence. Chief Njombwa, Spread Out The Mat Chief Njombwa, s...| African Poems
The following verses from the Odù Ifá were rendered by Chief Priest Ifáyẹmi Ọ̀ṣúndàgbonù Elebuibon as part of an interview conducted for Tani Olohun’s YouTube channel. The Yorùbá sage Òrúnmìlà proposed that the Òrìṣà (deities) worshiped as gods and goddesses, were once men and women of exceptional talent who became venerated as heroic ancestors after their deaths. Gradually, the veneration of the virtous qualities of these ancestors evolved and expanded until their...| African Poems
The Yorùbá poet Lanrewaju Adepọju passed away on the 10th December 2023 from age-related illness. We are grateful to his son, Olayiwola Adepọju, for this transcription and translation into English of a recording from Chief Adepọju’s repertoire. A self-taught polymath residing in Ibadan, Lanrewaju Adepọju seamlessly embodied the roles of poet, playwright, author, and social crusader. Local politicians and noteworthy figures actively sought his collaboration, aspiring to leverage hi...| African Poems
The Yorùbá language consists of three major tones: high tone, mid-tone, and low tone. For reading these are illustrated in the letters of the Yorùbá alphabet with accent marks. Dò (low-tone, depicted by a grave accent), Re (mid-tone, depicted by the absence of any accent), Mí (high-tone, depicted by an acute accent). A dynamic aspect of the Yorùbá language and worldview is the ability to pun with words in poetry form by mischievously exploiting the different possible meanings of a wor...| African Poems