Shingai Shoniwa: Telling the African story through Music
Shoniwa’s genre of music is a fine blend of her Zimbabwean African roots and culture and her experiences as a woman living in London. In balancing these two diverse cultures, she has been able to produce sounds with elements of her Bantu heritage that appeal to the United Kingdom market.
Her solo career, as fulfilling as it is now, was not all rosy. In her journey to musical independence, she had to go through a lawsuit against a hacker who compromised her social media identity. She eventually won the lawsuit but that period was a challenging one where she had to start from ground zero again.
Never one to give up, she got into the studio to put in the work and in 2019, she released the EP, Ancient Futures, released under her own Zimtron Records. The extended play was a manifestation of solving and embracing one’s cultural identity in the diaspora.
The following year, she began working on her debut album titled Too Bold. Released in October, the album was a representation of her name which means “courage or boldness”. The album was a no holds barred as she addressed pertinent issues of cultural identity, socio-political issues and slavery.
Shoniwa is never one to shy away from showcasing her African heritage. Her stage performances depict Afrocentric appearances that feature colourful outfits and styles by African designers as well as a painted face.
Shoniwa was a part of the music group called Noisettes who enjoyed mainstream success in the United Kingdom in 2009 before deciding to pursue her solo career.
