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The highly diverse and distinctive music of Madagascar has been shaped by the musical traditions of Southeast Asia, Africa, Oceania, Arabia, England, France and the United States over time as indigenous people, immigrants, and colonists have made the island their home. Traditional instruments reflect these widespread origins: the mandoliny and kabosy owe their existence to the introduction of the guitar by early Arab or European seafarers, the ubiquitous djembe originated in mainland Africa and the valiha—the bamboo tube zither considered the national instrument of Madagascar—directly evolved from an earlier form of zither carried with the first Austronesian settlers on their outrigger canoes.
Eusèbe Jaojoby, commonly known by his surname Jaojoby, is a Malagasy composer and singer of salegy, a musical style of northwestern Madagascar. Critics consider him to be one of the originators of the modern salegy style that emerged in the 1970s, and credit him with transforming the genre from an obscure regional musical tradition into one of national and international popularity. Jaojoby also contributed to the creation of two salegy subgenres, malessa and baoenjy. Jaojoby has been called the most popular singer in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, and is widely referred to as the "King of Salegy". His success has earned him such honors as Artist of the Year in Madagascar for two consecutive years (1998–1999) and the role of Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund in 1999.
Andry Nirina Rajoelina is a Malagasy politician and businessman who has served as president of Madagascar since 2023. He previously served as president from 2019 to 2023, and was president of a provisional government from 2009 to 2014 following a political crisis and military-backed coup, having held the office of Mayor of Antananarivo for one year prior. Before entering the political arena, Rajoelina was involved in the private sector, including a printing and advertising company called Injet in 1999 and the Viva radio and television networks in 2007.
Philibert Rabezoza, better known by the name Rakoto Frah, was a flautist and composer of traditional music of the central highlands of Madagascar. Born in 1923 near the capital city of Antananarivo to a poor rural family, Rakoto Frah surmounted the challenges posed by his underprivileged origins to become the most acclaimed 20th century performer of the sodina flute, one of the oldest traditional instruments on the island. Through frequent international concerts and music festival performances, he promoted the music of the highlands of Madagascar and became one of the most famous Malagasy artists, both within Madagascar and on the world music scene.
Nicolas Vatomanga Andrianaivo Rakotovao, known as Nicolas Vatomanga is a Malagasy saxophonist, flutist, bandleader and composer. His music combines elements of jazz, blues and traditional musics of Madagascar, including: the hira gasy of the Centre, the beko from the South and the salegy from the North of the Great Island.
Elie Rajaonarison was a poet, artist, professor and civil servant from Madagascar. Considered the standard-bearer for modern Malagasy poetry, Rajaonarison's published poetry anthologies earned him international recognition and have been translated into French and English.
Paul Bert Rahasimanana, better known as Rossy, is a Malagasy singer and songwriter, generally considered the most popular Malagasy artist of the 1990s. Beginning his musical career as an accordionist and singer within a traditional hira gasy musical troupe, Rossy innovated a fusion of hira gasy instrumentation and vocal style with contemporary rock, funk and folk sounds to create a uniquely Malagasy genre of contemporary popular music. Rossy actively promoted former president Didier Ratsiraka through concert performances throughout his presidency and served within the Ministry of Culture to promote artists' rights and copyright law. When Ratsiraka fell into disfavor following the contentious 2001 Malagasy presidential elections, Rossy went into self-imposed exile in France. He returned to the island to give concerts beginning in 2008 and enjoyed enormous popularity despite six years of absence, setting an unbroken record of 35,000 tickets sold for a performance given that year. His compositions and style are frequently associated with the Ratsiraka socialist period and commonly evoke a sense of nostalgia among Malagasy fans.
Jerry Marcoss is a singer and composer of kawitry, mangaliba and salegy music of Madagascar. Born in Antalaha in 1980, Jerry Marcoss is responsible for the national popularization of the kawitry genre of the northeast coast and has been termed the "King of Kawitry" by the Malagasy press. Since launching his musical career in 2001, Marcoss has released five albums and regularly gives performances across Madagascar, as well as in Europe and throughout the region. He is a high-energy performer and is distinguished by his positive lyrics, which are notably more universally comprehensible than many of his peers who sing in the northeastern coastal dialect of the Malagasy language. In 2006, he won the national award for Artiste Mafana de l'Annee. He has received several awards at annual musical competitions hosted by Radio France International, and has frequently collaborated with other popular Malagasy artists.
Erick Manana is an acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter from Madagascar. He often performs in a duo or as a solo artist, singing in accompaniment to his acoustic guitar in the ba-gasy genre that gained prominence in the central highlands of Madagascar in the 1930s. He began to learn to play guitar and sing in the ba-gasy style from his grandfather at the age of five. In 1979 he left Madagascar to settle in France and currently lives in Bordeaux. His professional career as a musician began in 1982 as a member of Lolo sy ny Tariny. He recorded his first solo album in 1996. He was a member of the group Feo-Gasy alongside the celebrated sodina player Rakoto Frah, and together the group toured Europe several times, promoting the traditional music of the central highlands of Madagascar. He has worked on a variety of collaborative projects, recording singles and performing with established artists such as Regis Gizavo and Solorazaf, and young breakthrough stars like Aina Quash. Most recently, Manana formed a group with valiha player Justin Vali and other prominent Malagasy artists in the Malagasy All Stars.
Wawa is a performer and composer of salegy, a genre of music from the northern coastal region of Madagascar. He is among the most popular contemporary salegy artists and has recorded songs in collaboration with numerous other Malagasy artists. In 2011 he released an album of traditional salegy, featuring kabosy, marovany and traditional percussion accompaniment. Wawa enjoys strong popularity among Malagasy audiences both domestically and within the diaspora, and regularly tours at home and abroad. In 2010 the band completed extensive tours to sold-out audiences in France and Madagascar. A music reviewer for Midi Madagasikara described Wawa in 2013 as the "perfect entertainer, who never ceases to perform at the highest levels."
Mily Clement is one of the originators of the contemporary form of salegy, a traditional musical style of the northern coastal areas of Madagascar. He grew up surrounded by the music of the tromba spirit possession ceremonies in his community, and in his teens he became influenced by American and African guitarists, inspiring him to begin playing guitar. He began professionally performing guitar with local bands in Ambilobe.
Samoëla Rasolofoniaina, better known as Samoëla, is a Malagasy vocalist and composer of contemporary folk fusion and roots music that draws upon musical traditions throughout the island of Madagascar. He typically sings and plays acoustic guitar, accompanied by an ensemble including bass guitar, Western and traditional percussion, and backup singers. He is distinguished by his use of hainteny traditional poetry and its metaphorical language, as well as youth slang and culturally subversive direct language to critique and address sensitive social and political topics.
Mahaleo is a folk-pop band from Madagascar that is widely viewed as the most popular Malagasy group of all time. The band was founded by Dama with six of his classmates after first performing together during the rotaka student protests at their high school on 13 May 1972. Mahaleo's lyrics draw upon the indirect language of traditional hainteny and ohabolana to expose contemporary political and social issues and invite listeners to identify their own solutions.
Rabaza is a musical group from Taolagnaro on the southern coast of Madagascar. They perform a blend of traditional musical styles, including kilalaka, tsapiky and mangaliba. The group was founded by R. Christo Benny, who had previously founded and co-led the group Hazolahy from 1998 to 2004. The band seeks to revitalize the musical traditions of the southern region of Anosy and primarily uses local instruments like the hazolahy drum, belamaky, pitiky langay, kasaky and langoro. Both albums enjoyed strong success across the island. The band has toured throughout Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands and has participated in numerous regional music festivals. A song by Rabaza entitled Mifaneva was used in a film "Madagascar: Carnet de Voyage", which was nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Animated Short Film" in 2011.
Terakaly is a musical group from the southwestern region of Madagascar. They perform a contemporary blend of traditional music from the region, including beko and tsapiky. The band enjoyed nationwide success with its first single, "Avia Mouna", which was released in 1999. After a period of intense popularity, the band lost ground to other new artists and only regained nationwide exposure with the release of a new album in 2009. The band was a launching point for several other successful artists, most notably including Tsiliva, who ranks among the most popular contemporary performers of the kilalaka genre.
AmbondronA is a pop rock from Madagascar. The band has figured prominently in the Malagasy music scene since 2001.
Njiva Tsilavina Martin Rakotoharimalala is a Malagasy football winger who plays for Thai club Ratchaburi.
The Malagasy N1A is the top basketball league in Madagascar. Currently, twelve teams play in the competition to determine who is the national champion of Madagascar. The defending champions are COSPN.
Club Omnisport de La Police Nationale, commonly known as COSPN or COSPN Analamanga, is a Malagasy basketball club based in Antananarivo, Analamanga. The team plays in the N1A, the top tier level in Madagascar. COSPN is affiliated to the national police force and has won the league three times, in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
Vonjiniaina, is a contemporary Malagasy artist, gold medalist in sculpture at the fifth Jeux de la Francophonie in 2005.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Mika sy Davis". TV Mada. 22 August 2012. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 Rabe, Patrice (8 February 2013). "Madagascar: Mika Sy Davis - Un nouveau " look " musical pour la prestation du 1er mars" (in French). Midi Madagascar. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ↑ Rabe, Patrice (27 February 2013). "Mika sy Davis: Prêts pour leur grand concert acoustique au Dôme Ankorondrano" (in French). Midi Madagascar. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
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