Nigerian-French musician, Asa, is billed to perform at the 2019 edition of the MTN Bush Fire Festival holding in Swaziland in May.
The jazz, pop and indie pop singer will be performing along with artists from all over Africa, including:
- Kenyan “Blinky” Bill Sellanga, Swaziland Music Awards (SWAMA) winner of the lifetime achievement award;
- Smiles Mandla Makama,
- Thabang Tabane,
- Sereetsi,
- Mozambican Dub/Reggae Fusion band, GranMah,
- Côte d’Ivoire’s Dobet Gnahoré,
- Kenya’s Maia and the Big Sky,
- Eme,
- Moonchild from Nigeria and South Africa respectively.
The internationally acclaimed annual event will also feature European musicians; Puts Marie from Switzerland and Austria’s Aramboa.
MTN Bush Fire
MTN Bush Fire has over the years been a reflection of African ethics, with a focus on the continent’s music, culture, and arts, and this 13th edition isn’t any different.
According to Swazitravel.com:
“[The event] celebrates creative expression whilst promoting social responsibility, stimulating the economy and drawing talent and tourists from across Africa and around the world.”
In 2017, the festival won the African Responsible Tourism Award’s Most Sustainable Event Award, and has also been mentioned by CNN as one of the “7 African music festivals you really have to see.”
The “Fire on the Mountain” and “Mr. Jailer” singer is said to have been chosen because of “her soulful voice and powerful lyrics.” According to organizers;
“Asa has earned a place as the de-facto patron saint of the cerebral, boho-chic Nigerian. Her style is unique, lying somewhere between pop and soul — and just a twist of reggae. Her music features mainly English lyrics, but she also sings in Yoruba, a West African language widely spoken in Nigeria.
Her songs say a lot about our melancholy, our dreams, our thoughts, and our reflections. It almost feels like they have been part of our lives even before Asa wrote and sang them.”
This year’s edition holds from Friday the 24th to Sunday 26th of May at the House on Fire performing arts theatre, Swaziland.
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Featured image source: Music In Africa