The music of Malawi has historically been influenced by its triple cultural heritage of British, African, and American music. Malawians have long been travelers and migrant workers, and as a result, their music has spread across the African continent and blended with other music forms. One of the prime historical causes of the Malawian musical melting pot was World War II, when soldiers both brought music to distant lands and also brought it back. By the end of the war, guitar and banjo duos were the most popular type of dance band. Both instruments were imported. Malawians working in the mines in South Africa and Mozambique also led to fusion and blending in music styles, giving rise to music styles like Kwela.
John Zenus Ungapake Tembo was a Malawian politician who served for years as President of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Tembo comes from the Dedza District in central Malawi, and he was a teacher by profession. Beginning in the 1960s he was an important politician in Malawi, and he was a key figure in the regime of Hastings Banda (1964–1994). He has been variously described as "physically slight, ascetic, fastidious" and "cunning". He was replaced as President of the MCP in August 2013.
Lucius Chicco Banda, better known by his stage name Soldier Lucius Banda, is a Malawian singer-songwriter, music producer and politician from Balaka, Malawi.
Wambali Mkandawire, popularly known as Mtebeti Wambali Mkandawire was a Malawian jazz singer and activist.
The Real Elements is a Malawian hip-hop band that gained notoriety in the 1990s and 2000s in Malawi. The group consisted of Marvel, Plan B, Stix, and Q. The group holds a special place in the Malawian music industry because it propagated Malawian hip-hop and paved the way for the Malawian hip-hop genre at a time when they were a few hip-hop artists in Malawi. Their music was considered the cutting edge in the Malawi music scene. Critics argue that is the best urban group that has come out of Malawi. They performed in Malawi and their music was also featured on Channel O beaming Malawian hip-hop for the first time to a Pan African audience. In their UK tours they opened for UK hip-hop artists like Blak Twang and Terri Walker. It was just as their international career was taking off that the group separated. Stix decided to leave the music industry and follow religious pursuits. The group currently is pursuing personal interests.
Nyasa Times is an online newspaper providing Malawian news, founded by Edgar Chibaka in 2006. It began reporting in late 2006. According to its own website, it received "over 8 million hits per month" in 2010.
Angela Mizinga is a Malawian singer/rapper from Ntcheu, Malawi.
Tapiwa "Tapps" Bandawe is a Malawian record producer. He lived in South Africa for two years before returning to Malawi. He is credited for producing the music of popular Malawian singers, such as Lucky Dube, Brenda Fassie, Jozi, 2Face (Nigeria), Nameless (Kenya), K’Millian (Zambia), Lucius Banda, Mlaka Maliro, Theo Thompson and Phyzix (Malawi) just to name a few. His studio is called Audio Vision Studio.
Harry Thomson, also known as "Clean Harry", was a Malawian politician. He was born in Zomba, the capital of Nyasaland. He was a founding member of the United Democratic Front party (UDF) and a Minister of Trade and Industry.
Francis Kaphuka known professionally as Hyphen formerly known as Young Kay is a popular Malawian hip-hop artist that is known for fusing local Malawian folk songs with international genres. He is known for his vibrant sound and ability to mix Chichewa and English lyrics eloquently in his rhymes. This has earned him recognition as one of Malawi's best lyricists. He has been voted as Malawi’s best rapper twice Joy FM fans and in 2021 was crowned King of Malawian Hiphop by the audience of one of Malawi's biggest online platforms, Mikozi Networks. He was introduced to Malawian audiences under Rush records with the single “I’m Home” and his popularity grew to solidify his place as one of Malawi's greatest hip-hop artists. He has had subsequent hits since then. His song “zipepese” number 2 on FM 101 Power’s urban music chart. In 2010 he collaborated with Malawian born rising act Onesimus Muzik on a track titled "Beautiful" He also collaborated with Lucius Banda, Tigris, and Maskal on track "Malawi Goodlife" in 2011.
Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera is a Malawian politician and theologian who has served as President of Malawi and Minister of Defence since June 2020. He also serves as Minister of Defence per Malawian constitution, he has served as the leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013. He was President of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 to 2013.
Leo Siwale, known professionally by his stage name Tsar Leo, is a Malawian rapper, singer and songwriter. He was nominated as Malawi's Best New Artist of the Year for 2015. He is currently competing for the Independent Music Awards, adding to contemporary musicians from Malawi that are making international headway.
Benn Gilbert Kamoto, better known by his stage name Gemini Major, is a Malawian-born South African record producer and singer-songwriter. He was signed to Family Tree Records, a South African independent record label found by Cassper Nyovest.
Vanessa Nsona is a Malawian fashion designer and entrepreneur best known as the creator of Fashion brand, Dorovee which is Malawi's first eco-friendly fashion accessory company. She designs hand made accessories including bags, shoes, bowties necklaces and other jewelry using Malawian fabric and materials. She launched the brand in 2012 in Malawi. Her designs have appeared in Malawi fashion shows, including Malawi Fashion Week 2014 and at the Malawi at 50 celebrations in Washington DC. An established designers in Malawi, she mentors and trains fashion designers both in and out of the country. She has co-hosted workshops in Malawi. In Zimbabwe, she held a workshop on 'Building a Sustainable Fashion Brand' together with Zedlabel at the US embassy. She is a member of Soroptmist International of Blantyre (SIB) which helps disadvantaged women and children. She also launched Project Luso, which creates and promotes Malawian fashion designs to help disadvantaged women and mentors talent in the fashion industry together with non-profit Samaritan Trust.
Shepherd Bushiri also known as Major 1 is a Malawian preacher, prophet, businessman, motivational speaker, and author.
Qabaniso Malewezi, also known as Q, is a Malawian musician and poet. A former producer for the hip-hop band Real Elements, he has since authored several collections of poems including the audio collection People. In 2015 he received an honorary doctorate from Mzuzu University.
Duncan Zgambo, professionally known as Gwamba, is a Malawi-born Rapper and Philanthropist.
Rita Kalonga, known professionally by her stage name Ritaa, is a Malawian musician, singer, songwriter and Entrepreneur
Hip-hop culture in Malawi is relatively young. The genre is a marriage between local and western sounds. Prior to 1994, Malawi was living under a single party regime where censorship of media was heavily employed. Upon gaining freedom in 1994 the country began getting exposed to more western media and hip-hop which was gaining a global audience permeated its way into Malawian society.
Joseph Tembo was a musician and politician from Malawi. He had collaborated with Sally Nyundo, Lucius Banda, Mlaka Maliro and many other Malawian artists. He produced and promoted many upcoming artists including Andrew Matrauza, whose first successful single was Musadabwe. Tembo's style of music resembles Zimbabwean mbira music as he is a Sena, a southern Malawian tribe that has a common ancestry. For more than once he had performed and played alongside the late Oliver Mtukudzi.
