Music of Malawi - Music of Malawi - Kwela

Kwela

In the late 1960s, South African kwela music was popular in Malawi. The country produced its own kwela stars that were not as popular as the South African counter parts, but contemporary Kwela artists like Daniel Kachamba & His Kwela Band have enjoyed popularity. It is a little known fact that South African Kwela music though had its roots in Malawi from the Malawian immigrants that went to work in South Africa and fused their music with the local sounds, creating Kwela. The word, 'Kwela', in chichewa means 'to climb' which is similar to the South African definition, which means to "get up" or "rise".