Magdalene Lesolobe

Gaborone, Botswana (IFS) -- Magdalene Lesolobe, best known by her stage name Charma Gal, is a female artist from Botswana who gained fame in 2005 following the establishment of a music group called Culture Spears. 

The focus quickly shifted from Culture Spears with Eke Ntolo in the picture and saw them releasing hit after hit.

She was nominated in five categories at the 2015 7th BOMU Awards and worn all the awards. She signed a three-year contract with a Zimbabwean studio Diamond Studios to boost her sales. 

She did a duet with Jah Prayzah on his album ‘Kumbumura Mhute’. She also did a Shona track titled ‘Mari Muroyi’ that features on her nine track album titled ‘Chomi Yami’.

She has six albums under her name (‘Eke Ntolo’ Volume 1 to 6). She was one of the three judges of the Chibuku Road to Fame competition.

Punah Gabasiane

Gaborone, Botswana (IFS) -- Punah Gabasiane is a Motswana Afro-jazz singer who shot to fame in 2001 with her album titled ‘Introducing Punah’. 

Born and raised in Serowe, central district of Botswana, Punah had always wanted to be a singer from an early age. She attended high school at Swaneng Hill School. 

After high school, she decided to pursue her love for dancing and performing. She joined the Ditholwana Traditional Troupe as a lead singer and traditional dancer and represented her country at the SADC Music Festival in Harare as part of the Ditholwana Traditional Dance Troupe.

She decided to include music in her portfolio and joined a renowned KTM choir where she sang as a cabaret singer at the Grand Palm Casino and Resort Hotel and other hotels around the country. 

In 2007 she released her second album titled ‘Tshwaraganang’. In April 2011 she launched an album called BOTHO. The ten-track Afro-jazz album successfully fuses contemporary and traditional music, social commentary and Afro-hypnotic jazz. She is among the best lyricists in the country who in 2002 enrolled to study a diploma in Business Administration while doing jazz singing.

Since 2001 she has managed to scoop several awards namely Best Live Band at the 2009 Botswana Presidential Award, Best Live Band at the 2008 Botswana Presidential Award, Best Female Artist and Best Jazz Album at the 2007 Botswana Music Awards, 2nd Position at the Botswana Orange Botswerere Artists Award, Best Jazz Artist at the Botswana Music Awards in 2006 and Best Gospel Album at the Botswana Music Awards in 2001.

Jazz P (Phephile Hlophe)

Mbabane, Swaziland (IFS) - - Based in Mozambique, Jazz P (real name Phephile Hlophe) is a Swazi self-styled rapper, songwriter, greatest female emcees, poet, and philosopher. Her passion for music began at a tender age of five.

She loved writing songs, singing and listening to music by Mariah Carey, Jill Scotts, and Erykah Badu. She also loved listening to ragga and reggae artists such as Yellow Maan, Burning Spear, Buju Banton, Capleton, Sizzla, and others.

She sings about spirituality, love, femininity, and life in general. She is a vocalist who fuses soul, blues, reggae and jazz elements in her music, with a seasoning of Afro elements.

She is the founding member of the Mozambique-based band The Next Generation. Before relocating to Mozambique, she spent ten years performing in her home country.

She has been involved in a number of performances.

She performed at The Bush Fire Festival in Swaziland and at the Speak The Mind poetry sessions in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her music is a mixture of English and Swati languages.

In 2007, she performed Bushfire Festival, an annual international event held in Swaziland. She performed together with Outspoken, a Zimbabwean hip-hop artist. She collaborated with Lady Thanda (Thanda Richardson), a Zimbabwean female ragga artist at the 'Black History Month' event.

She performed for King Mswati the third and for the president of Mozambique, Gebuza at a function that took place at the President`s residence. In 2013, she performed at the Bushfire Festival with Ras Skunk (Mozambican roots reggae artist).

In July 2013, she released an EP called ‘In My Heart’. The music project was recorded at B Records Studio in Maputo, Mozambique. Some of her songs include ‘Sweet Melody’ featuring Ras Skunk, ‘Love Me 4 Me’, ‘Oh Jah’ featuring Ras Skunk and ‘Supreme Love’.

Nana Magagula

Manzini, Swaziland (IFS) - - Nana Magagula is a well-known Swazi artist who secured a recording deal with a renowned international record label Gallo. 

This resulted in the release of her widely acclaimed debut album 'Five Loaves and Two Fish' which garnered three SAMA nominations in 2005. She has worked with Phillip Miller in the sound tracks of South African drama series Yizo Yizo and Gaz’lam. 

She also sang national anthems for France, Uruguay and South Africa in the Rugby Tri-Nations in 2006. Til today, she commands respect within the local music scene just because of that album, although she has somewhat taken a sabbatical from the music scene.

Sitandazile Amanda Motsa, Amanda Mo

Mbabane, Swaziland (IFS) - - Born Sitandazile Amanda Motsa, Amanda Mo is an RnB, soul and pop Swaziland artist who draws her musical influences from a number of artists she respects. Her love for music prompted her to form a music group while in high school. Her journey of becoming a musician began to take shape when she formed the group. She formed another group called Lipstick. The mind-blowing duo produced a song called ‘Lipstick’.

Besides forming productive music outfits, she is known for making a number of contributions to ‘The Swazi Rhythm’ project, a Swazi compilation album spearheaded by Swaziland’s top radio DJ Lindelwa Mafa. 

She contributed on a song called ‘I Like It’ and she is also the voice and writer behind the FLAS ‘Makhe’ Campaign theme song called ‘Choices’. Her song ‘I Like It’ enjoyed a month long reign on top of the official music charts in Swaziland (SBIS top 20 chart) making it the highest charting song by a female artist in the country. 

She made headlines again when her pop song ‘Us’ debuted on the top 10 of SBIS top 20 charts and eventually made its way up the charts, peaking at number one.

She landed her songwriting and vocal talent to South Africa’s Soul Candy records where she appeared on Dj Qness’ latest ‘One Cue Vol. 4’ album on the house track she penned called ‘You’. Her RnB ballad called ‘This Promise’ was picked by a number of internet radio channels and received reviews from music critics. 

‘This Promise’ was also featured on an all American independent mixtape ‘Queen’. The mixtape was released on June 2014 and featured female singers across the U.S. making her the only non-U.S. artist to be featured on the project.

She has shared the stage with top Swazi artists and South African music heavy weights such as Lira and Moneoa and has showcased her talents in some Johannesburg, Nelspruit and Durban events. In August 2014, she was selected as one of the artists that might share the stage with U.S’ top rapper Nicki Minaj.

In 2014, she was crowned 2014’s winning artist at the Sibebe Friday Night Live Series, the official annual musical competition in the country after headlining a successful show. She also gave her debut performance at Swaziland’s most prestigious Bushfire International Festival. Her song ‘Injwayelo’ has been play listed on Durban’s Gagasi FM and peaked at number 2 on the radio station’s Afro-Soul chart show, making her the only Swazi artist to feature on the show.

Besides music, she is a holder of a Environmental Science degree.

Nomalungelo Dladla

Mbabane, Swaziland (IFS) -- Born on 1 December, Nomalungelo Dladla is Swaziland's songwriter and by far one of the top female Afro-soul musicians to emerge out of that country. 

Her music career kicked-off early 2009 when she featured on fellow stablemate’s album, the ‘Psycho-tik Revolution’, which was released on 4 March of that year.

On 4 March 2009, she released her debut single ‘Imiyalo’ at the age of 21. The song saw her being awarded several awards. With her ‘Lilungelo Lami’ album, she made waves in several local and South African radio and TV stations.

Her vocal ability and song writing skills earned her milage in the music scenery when her song ‘Imiyalo’ was remixed by a number of house producers from Swaziland and South Africa with effort by house music group The Antidotes. 

Shortly afterwards, she began to meet big game players in the South African music scene including Ringo Madlingozi and Robbie Malinga among others.

She has also worked with DJ Sbu on his ‘MoFaya’ album on two songs namely ‘Move Your Body’ and ‘Losing My Mind’. In August 2013, she collaborated with South African artist Ringo Madlingozi in her second 14-tracks album titled ‘Kuba Ngimi’. 

The South African artist is featured on her two songs titled ‘Why’ and ‘Kuwe’. The album was produced by Robbie Malinga, Mjalefa Tebe, and features Ringo, Tresor Riziky and Rubba Swag.

Nomsa Mtsetfwa

Mbabane, Swaziland (IFS)  --  Nomsa M (real name Nomsa Mtsetfwa) is an African traditional jazz/pop artist who has been performing in the local music industry for more than a decade. 

She has worked with many local artists including Masikane, Zaza, Nomalungelo and Itallo as a backup singer until 2011 when she began her solo career.

She has established herself as a leading female Swazi vocalist who is best known for delivering traditional African jazz and pop music with strength, passion and charisma.

In August 2013, she released an Afro-traditional jazz song titled ‘Litfuba’. The offering is a dedication to all women. 

It was composed by her husband Menziwokuhle Mtsetfwa who is also her producer. That same year she performed at the Miss Teen 2013/14 eliminations which were held at Happy Valley Resort.

In May 2015, she opened the main stage for the weekend-long festivities of the 2015 MTN Bushfire Festival. She opened the festival with her hit song ‘Intfombi YeLiSwati’ which was appreciated by the audience as they crowded the arena.