Watch Thandiswa Mazwai’s Thrilling Performance at the Tiny Desk x GlobalFEST 2024

Thandiswa Mazwai is one of the post-apartheid South Africa’s most influential musicians. For nearly thirty years she has championed a kind of dance music called Kwaito. The South African genre mixes a variety of rhythms and influences including hip-hop, reggae, jazz and house music.

For the fourth year, Tiny Desk Concerts teamed up with globalFEST for an online music festival, and they’re starting this year with one of post-apartheid South Africa’s most influential musicians, Thandiswa Mazwai.

For the live performance, Thandiswa Mazwai and the set start with “Nizalwa Ngobani?”, translated from the Xhosa language for “Do you know where you come from?” It’s dedicated to the ever-resilient people of South Africa. “I want to say to my people at home, thank you,” she says. “I am known worldwide because of you.” After, she sings a love song, “Ingoma” with the memorable hook “Ngoma we, ngoma we, ngoma we,” which loosely translates to “You are a song that I never get tired of.” She dedicates the next song, “Children of the Soil,” to all the people around the world who find themselves struggling for freedom. “This is our time to use our voices,” she affirms.

Watch and enjoy the performance below!