Hazel Mak steers away from politics
Hazel Mak featured on BBC’s Focus on Africa radio programme and although the talk centred on her music, the host could not resist bringing in political references to events back home.
The afro/house/R ‘n’ B artist on Wednesday evening faced Bola Mosuro who asked her about music, especially her recently released album Unorthodox.
The songbird also shared with the world experiences from her personal life and the events in Malawi.
Makawa: I’ve recorded a few songs
Towards the end of the programme monitored on BBC Radio, Mosuro could not resist asking Mak to share her insights into the political situation in Malawi.
She asked: “Looking back home, the developments that have happened in Malawi in the past few weeks politically greenlit a fresh presidential election: Is that something that you are keeping a firm eye on?”
Though she sounded taken aback with the question, Mak quickly got back in her groove and stated that she has not touched on politics in her music.
“It is a little difficult in the position that I am in to actually start commenting on politics because there is a divide. People take politics so seriously. Recently we have seen people being killed on issues to do with party politics and that just shows how dangerous the terrain is,” she said.
The focus of the interview was on the apparent shift that her new seven-track album has portrayed in terms of the expression of her ideas and feelings both as woman and an artist. She said the emotions from what she went through provided great inspiration for her album.
Mak said: “I recorded the album last year and I was going through a lot of personal problems which had to do with me as a woman and making some decisions that many people found to be deviating from tradition.
“It sounds very different from the music that Malawian female artists do. It is touching on subjects that people would have found as a taboo coming from a woman.”
She said the producers she worked with encouraged her to think outside the box and she wants to tell the story that she is unorthodox.
“It is something that I am taking with pride. It is something that I should not shy away from. I was raised by my mother not to be ashamed of what I am. I think this album is screaming that I am here and I am here to stay,” she said.
The award-winning artist said she hopes that her story inspires other people to be able to live their truth, standards and rules.
Her new album has songs such as Brand New, Dondada, Serenade, Overload, Katakwe and Kumutu. It was recorded in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi and United Kingdom where she is currently-based. Meanwhile Hazel is scheduled to hold a listening party of her new album Unorthodox live on Instagram today from 8pm
