Malawian music legend finds fame on TikTok

CHIRADZULU (Malawi) • At 92, Giddes Chalamanda has no idea what TikTok is. He does not even own a smartphone.

And yet the Malawian music legend has become a social media star, with his song Linny Hoo garnering more than 80 million views on the video-sharing platform and spawning mash-ups and remixes from South Africa to the Philippines.

"They come and show me the videos on their phones, but I have no idea how it works," said Chalamanda at his home on the edge of a macadamia plantation, about 20km from Malawi's main city Blantyre.

"But I love the fact that people are enjoying themselves and that my talent is getting the right attention," he said, speaking in Chewa.

Despite his grey hair and slight stoop, the nonagenarian singer and guitarist, who has been a constant presence on the Malawian music scene for seven decades, displays a youthful exuberance as he sits chatting with a group of young fans.

He first recorded Linny, an ode to one of his daughters, in 2000. But global acclaim came only two decades later when Patience Namadingo, a young gospel artist, teamed up with Chalamanda to record a reggae remix of Linny titled Linny Hoo.

The black-and-white video of the recording shows a smiling, gap-toothed Chalamanda, nattily dressed in a white shirt and V-neck sweater, jamming with Namadingo under a tree outside his home, with a group of neighbours looking on.

The video went viral after it was posted on YouTube, where it has earned more than 6.9 million views. Then late last year, it landed on TikTok and toured the globe.

Chalamanda learnt of the song's sensational social media popularity only from his children and their friends. Since then, he and Namadingo have recorded remixes of several of his other best-known tracks.

Born in Chiradzulu, a town in southern Malawi, Chalamanda won fame with songs such as Buffalo Soldier, in which he dreams of visiting America. Over the past decade, he has collaborated with several younger musicians and still performs across the country.

On TikTok, DJs and ordinary fans have created their own remixes as part of a #LinnyHooChallenge.

"When his music starts playing in a club or at a festival, everyone gets the urge to dance. That is how appealing it is," said musician and long-time collaborator Davis Njobvu.

South Africa-based music producer Joe Machingura attributed the global appeal of a song recorded in Chewa, one of Malawi's most widely spoken languages, to the sentiments underlying it.

"The old man sang with so much passion, it connects with whoever listens to it. It speaks to your soul," he said.

Chalamanda, a twice-married father of 14 children, only seven of whom, including Linny, are still alive, said he has no idea how to secure royalties for the TikTok plays.

"I am just surprised that despite the popularity of the song, there is nothing for me," he said. "While I am excited I have made people dance all around the world, there should be some gain for me. I need the money."

His manager Pemphero Mphande said he was looking into the issue and the Copyright Society of Malawi said it was ready to assist.

Arts curator Tammy Mbendera of the Festival Institute in Malawi credited platforms such as TikTok with creating new opportunities for African talent.

"With songs from our past especially, they were written with such profoundness that they can still resonate today," she said.

"All one has to do, really, is get the chance to experience it, to acknowledge its significance. I think that's what happened here."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE