![]() On this album, Sitali embraces themes of transformation and change, sonically moving us away from the shadows of the past into a brighter future with his guitar and mandolin. I recently spoke with him about his unique musical odyssey and his fourth studio album, The Great Year which pays homage to the age of Aquarius and the belief that 2021's seven-planet stellium in Aquarius was the beginning of humanity taking control of the Earth and its destiny as its rightful heritage. His often prophetic lyrics and haunting melodies force you inward to a musical space that reverberates with the conversation between Africa and the diaspora. I thought you should know more about Zambian music and Sitali in particular because his music is grounded between the folk music of his ancestors as well as music from Mali, the Mississippi Delta, and the Nile Valley. Totally under the radar in terms of visibility and popularity, Sitali´s music seems destined to stand the test of time because of his spiritual and social conscientiousness, which he translated into music. He has cultivated a crew of dedicated collaborators, family, and friends in the United States who have sustained him and helped him preserve his unique sound over a thirty-year career. Although he has lived in cultural exile all his life, the music is in his bones. Sitali is one of these sonic messengers from Zambia who survived the scourge and made it through the cracks due to his cultural background, resilience, deep artistic friendships, and unwavering faith.Īn independent artist to the core, Sitali received a musical inheritance from these early African rockers. Where there should have been hope, there was a cloud of despair as an entire generation of young people in their prime were wiped out. Demonizing propaganda targeted Africans and homosexuals in the West as deviant and brought shame to these communities just as apartheid was ending and Mandela was released from prison. There is a lost generation due to that other pandemic with the same players and playbook called HIVAids, which all but decimated entire families and nations in southern Africa. But what happened to Zambian musicians active between the 80s and 2000s? Until recently there was only a handful of Zambian full-time recording artists including folk singer-songwriter Aleck Nkhata in the 50s, 60s, and 70s Zamrock roots stars Ricki Ililonga and Jagari Chanda. Contemporary music artists like Mathew Tembo stay close to their Zambian roots but Yo Maps, and Sampa the Great, are aligning themselves with Afrobeats, hip-hop, and rap-inspired music. If you were to ask anyone outside Zambia about Zambian music, they would probably know very little about the electronic music giant of Kalindula music Kalumba Chishala or traditional silimba or marimba meaning songs by Inaka Siyauya or Makishi in Barotseland. and summer festival music circuit scene for years. Watch the official music video for Victimhood below.Sitali is a New York-born singer-songwriter and guitarist from Zambia who has been in the D.C. These characters are so magical, they just have such deep, deep meaning for me.” “That’s a strange kind of victim hat too, you choose to do that, nobody asked you to. Sometimes it becomes the role of the women, in difficult situations to take on the catharsis and emotional work, and if there’s some dark shadows or forces in a situation, we’ll convert it into sort of good energy, for other family members, so they don’t have to, we will take care of it. It’s trickier to catch the tail of the self-pity for an optimist. I think in the lyrics themselves, there’s this poetry about a human situation that’s really welcoming for everyone, I think everyone can understand it”.ījörk added: “I sort of have this illusion idea of myself as being this kind of optimist. ![]() To break through the concrete mask of a certain feeling at a certain time. “Instead of pointing at somebody else all the time, it’s so nice to rediscover yourself. ![]() The song deals with things that I often think about, it’s about self-pity and how ridiculous you were or how funny you were in a situation, or in a strange place where you had hard times, and then you see yourself. It was a deep connection from the first time I heard it. I couldn’t forget it, I had some dreams about it too. Speaking about the video, Friðriksdóttir said: “I was absolutely fascinated by the song. Lifted from the Icelandic star’s most recent LP, ‘Fossora’ (2022), the track is accompanied by a clip directed by Gabríela Friðriksdóttir & Pierre-Alain Giraud, which was premiered during her ‘Cornucopia’ tour stop in Lisbon, Portugal. Björk has unveiled an enchanting animated music video for her latest single, Victimhood. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |