Top 10 Famous Artists in Madagascar
Music in Madagascar has served a range of holy and secular purposes. In addition to its use for amusement or personal creative expression, music has played an important role in spiritual ceremonies, cultural events, and historic and contemporary political functions. Certain instruments and styles of music became largely identified with various castes or ethnic groups by the late nineteenth century, though these distinctions have always been fluid and dynamic.
In this article, we have the top 10 famous artists in Madagascar listed below.
1. Oboy
Mihaja Ramiarinarivo, best known by his stage name Oboy, is a French rapper of Malagasy descent born on January 6, 1997. He raps using the mumble rap style. Oboy was born in Madagascar and has resided in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Val-de-Marne, since the age of six.His father introduced him to a diverse range of music, including Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, and Tupac Shakur.
Oboy cites ASAP Rocky and Migos as stylistic influences.
2. Rajery
Germain Randrianrisoa, often known as Rajery, is a Malagasy valiha player who developed the contemporary valiha orchestra. As an infant, he lost all of the fingers on one of his hands; as a result, he taught himself to play valiha.
Despite his disability, he developed a distinct musical method and style.Rajery has been a member of the musical trio 3MA since 2006. He performs and records with them.
3. D’Gary
Ernest Randrianasolo born on July 22, 1961, also known as D’Gary, is a Malagasy musician of Bara origin. His primary instrument is an acoustic guitar. His approach grew out of his passion in Malagasy music, namely tsapiky, which is prevalent in southern Madagascar.
4. Erick Manana
Erick Manana is an acoustic guitarist, singer, and songwriter from Madagascar. He frequently plays in a duo or alone, singing along with his acoustic guitar in the ba-gasy genre, which rose to prominence in Madagascar’s central highlands in the 1930s.
His professional career as a musician began in 1982 with Lolo sy ny Tariny. He made his debut solo album in 1996.
Manana most recently founded the Malagasy All Stars, which included valiha player Justin Vali and other renowned Malagasy musicians.
5. Jaojoby
Eusèbe Jaojoby (born 29 July 1955), often known by his surname Jaojoby is a Malagasy composer and singer of salegy, a musical style from northwestern Madagascar.
Jaojoby is widely regarded as the “King of Salegy” and the most popular singer in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands.
In 1970, Jaojoby began singing in the northern coastal town of Diego Suarez.
6. Razia
Razia Said, born on December 1, 1959, is a singer-songwriter and activist from Antalaha, Madagascar. Razia’s music is influenced by African artists like as Fela Kuti and Papa Wemba, as well as R&B and jazz, which she discovered after relocating to New York City in 1987.
Much of Razia’s musical focus is on safeguarding and preserving the environment, particularly that of her hometown. Razia is an activist against illegal logging in Madagascar.
7. Lala Njava
Gabrielle “Lala” Raharimalala, also known as Lala Njava, is a veteran of Malagasy music who campaigns for women’s and children’s rights, as well as against deforestation on her home island. She uses her artistic power to address these critical concerns in her debut solo album. She is also a part of the group Njava. Lala Njava hails from a huge family of eight sisters and seven brothers, all of whom are musicians. Lala and four of her siblings created the band Njava, which became one of the most popular names in Malagasy music in the 1990s.
8. Justin Vali
Justin Vali is one of the greatest living players of traditional Malagasy music on the valiha, Madagascar’s native instrument. He also plays the marovany box zither from central and southern Madagascar.
Vali participated to many compilations in the late 1980s before launching his solo recordings in 1990. In 2006, the French composers’ organisation awarded him the Grand Prize for Traditional Music.
9. Kilema
Kilema was born in 1960 in Toliara, a little coastal city in Southeast Madagascar surrounded by the waves of the Indian Ocean as it flows through the Traits of Mozambique, right at the heart of the Tropic of Capricorn.
Kilema’s passion and training in music began as a child, when he joined the Tsianaloke parish choir and sang every Sunday with his five siblings. Kilema steadily improved and strengthened his singing ability with the support of his musical teacher, Frère Lefèbvre Laurent, with whom he is still in contact.
10. Chila
Vaiavy Chila, usually known as Chila, is a vocalist and composer of salegy music from Madagascar’s northern coast. The most popular female salegy artist of the previous decade, she is widely referred to as the Princess of Salegy in the Malagasy press, in tribute to the first female salegy celebrity and “Queen of Salegy”, Ninie Doniah.
Chila describes her musical style as salegy mahangôma. She frequently performs with over 20 artists, including supporting musicians and dancers. In 2013, the artist embarked on an international tour to promote the release of her fifth album