Top 10 Thing’s You Didn’t Know About Chiwoniso

1. Chiwonise was a singer, songwriter and exponent of Zimbabwean mbira music.

2. The songstress was the daughter of Zimbabwean mbira Master and teacher Dumisani Maraire.

3. The late Chiwoniso described the mbira as a large xylophone.

4. She was born in1976 in Olimpia, Washington.

“To beat people, to threaten people, to put a person in a situation where they have to think for the next five hours about whether or not they are going to be OK- is a very very bad thing to do”

5. The legend then formed part of Afro-fusion hip hop trio A Peace of Ebony.

6. A Peace of Ebony was the first group to fuse mbira and contemporary beats.

7. The songstress formed the group in the early 90’s when she was 15.

8. Chiwoniso released four albums in her career, namely Ancient Voices in 1995, Timeless (2004), The Collaboration: Volume 1 (2006), and Rebel Woman (2009)

9. Maraire was honoured by Radio France (“Decouverte Afrique”) for her debut album, Ancient Voices(1998), and was nominated in the Kora All-Africa Music Awards for best female vocals of Africa in 1999.

10. The legendary songstress passed on the 24th of July 2013 at South Medical Hospital.