Ernie's African Odyssey Pt 37 - Namibia

Once upon a time I lived in Namibia. We moved there when I was seven and stayed for just over a year. My Dad was working for Wimpey at the time (the construction company not the burger chain) and was project managing the building of the first motorway north to Angola from the capital Windhoek where we lived. Many good and bad things have gone up and down that road since.

I have many happy memories of trips to places like Swakopmund and Etosha, and the monitor lizard, scorpions and other wildlife that made going into our garden such an adventure. But the happiest memories are of the gang of lads from Mayo and Achill Island who were working with my Dad who were enormous fun and whose antics were the talk of the town.

Enough mawkish sentimentality, on with the show. To be honest I am a bit disappointed with this episode. I am sure there is plenty of excellent Namibian music but compared to most other countries in the series very little is available from my usual sources, and much of that is rather dull local house and rap.

But while I suspect this is not the optimum Namibian playlist I mean no disrespect to the artists that are featured, all of whom are fine in their own right. And none finer than the mighty Ugly Creatures, who in the 1970s were the local equivalent of all the powerhouse Zamrock bands in their near neighbours Zambia. A couple of tracks from their 1978 album "Creatures Of The Earth" can be found on Bandcamp.

Next we have Gal Level, an R 'n B duo who were very big regionally in the 2000s and according to Wikipedia were compared to Destiny's Child (probably by themselves). They split in the early 2010s and while this 2015 article claimed there were no hard feelings it is clear Daphne was still peeved with Frieda. Let's hope they have patched things up. This track is on their album "Next Level", available via the tax dodgers.  

Bullet Ya Kaoko have been described as "one of Namibia’s leading cultural groups whose sound fuses traditional Oviritje and modern kwaito grooves", and I am in no position to disagree. They apparently performed at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups in South Africa and Brazil respectively but did not make it past the group stages on either occasion. "Ombura" was a hit for them in 2011.

We now have a pair of artists about whom I have been able to discover very little. Sagarias Tsam is a singer-songwriter based in the coastal town of Swakopmund (see above) who has been recording since 2020. This track is on his 2022 album "Nâma He Ta Gehâ". 

The Sebulon Gomachab track can be found on the 2004 compilation "A Hand-Full Of Namibians" which also features Dungeon Family - the band that begat Gal Level - and today's MAR contributor. Also known as Axue, Mr Gomachab sadly left us five years ago and this obituary contains all the information I have been able to find about him.

Which brings us on to the MAR star himself, Ras Sheehama. He has had quite a life. In the days when Namibia was still a South African colony and known as South West Africa his father was a prominent supporter of the liberation movement SWAPO, as a result of which he was killed by state-backed forces in 1980. 

Young Ras and the rest of the family went into exile in Zambia and then Nigeria during which time he started playing reggae and adopted the rastafarian faith. Returning after independence in 1990 he established himself as a major artist locally, playing with the likes of South African reggae giant the late Lucky Dube. This track is from his 2005 album "Travelling".

"Exit For The Artist Exists" - The Ugly Creatures

"Mbeta" - Gal Level

"Ombura" - Bullet Ya Kaoko

"//haixa-Xuê" - Sagarias Tsam

"Gai Igoni Ge" - Sebulon Gomachab

"Nekwa Lyatsima" - Ras Sheehama

The first of today's videos is a Namibian-Nigerian collaboration. We will be reaching Nigeria in a couple of stops so consider this a taster. Here Fishman represents the local scene and M'Jay is the interloper.