Maliaka, the South African musical group is globally known for its eclectic upbeat ‘Afropop’ fusion. In addition to great music, the group has great stage presence.

Anchored by Bongani Nchanga and Matshediso Mholo, Maliaka has global recognition andis the recipients of several awards, a quick mention would include: Kora Awards  Best Newcomer Group for Malaika and Best Southern Group for Vuthelani, Sama: Most Popular Artists of the Year, and Most Popular Song of the Year,  Channel O Music Video Awards – Best Afro-Pop Group,  Best Duo or Group,  Metro FM Music Awards – Best Afro-Pop Album, Best Group, Best Album and their most recent CD has gone platinum in less than 6 months.

My introduction to Malaika  was via two songs from their first CD: ‘Melodi’ and ‘Destiny’.  Songs that I enjoyed playing on air at an African radio station in New York some years back. Then, I would hope the group would perform in NYC someday, but that day never came until this year. And I was there to watch them perform. 

The day was March 14th 2010, venue was SOB’s in New York. I was eager to see Maliaka perform given the positive reviews of their earlier gigs in Detroit, Michigan and Texas. 

A Malaika video clip

The show started late, the crowd was antsy, but once Malaika got on the stage, it was a different story – the group owned it. Their stage presence was awesome. Watch a video clip of the concert.

They felt comfortable interacting with the crowd, that it was common to see them holding hands with crowd members, passing the mic down or getting people on the stage to dance with them. What I found particularly interesting was their understanding of the diversity of their crowds — they had no problems mixing English or their language with pidgin English, which I suspect they must have learnt from the Nollywood flicks (Nigeria videos are popular in South Africa). Their ability to move from one culture to the other while maintaining their core South African identity showed us the reason that South Africa on its good days is known as a country of many nations, tribes and languages.  

There were many remarkable moments, and it’s difficult choosing my favorite. But, the instances I really loved were when Matshediso spoke in Pidgin English, made a statement and said ‘chineke me!”. When the group sang ‘Melodi’ and ‘2 bob Mutunza’ (see video clip above) was also great, just as when the duo sang a couple of gospel songs particularly a Nigerian gospel song by Uche called – ‘My God is good o!’

A slideshow of the concert

The show was definitely worth every penny. I was so thoroughly impressed that I will to watch them perform again. At the end of the show, it was quite clear why they have such a big reputation and have won several awards. Yes, I had a huge grin throughout the show – I was just simply happy!! 

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