Tsonga Sunday

I am finally getting round to working my way through the stash of Tsonga CDs I bought in Johannesburg last year. I will aim to have one Tsonga themed post a week until I get to the bottom of the pile.

We start off with an artist I had not heard of before, but who has some heavyweight friends. Regulars will recall that there are two clans that dominate the traditional Tsonga music scene, the Chaukes and the Malulekes. The patriarch of the Maluleke clan is George, and he pops up as joint producer of "Hananai No. 1", the 2007 debut album by Lizah N'wa Nkwinika. The production is considerably more funky that you would normally associate with George, but none the worse for that. Here's Lizah.

"Miyela Nwana" - Lizah N'wa Nkwinika

"A Va Tshembekangi" - Lizah N'wa Nkwinika

As far as I know the rivalry between the Chaukes and Malulekes is purely a musical one. They are not the Tsonga equivalent of the Hatfields and McCoys. Speaking of whom, Waylon Jennings gives the two tribes a name check when singing about the need to get back to the basics of love, which seems fairly appropriate on Valentine's Day.