Mahaleo

madagascar african malagasy musique malgache folk

Mahaleo is a folk-pop band from Madagascar that is widely viewed as the most popular Malagasy group of all time. Their music is considered emblematic of Malagasy identity. The band was founded by Dama (Rasolofondraosolo Zafimahaleo) with six of his classmates after first performing together during the rotaka student protests at their high school on 13 May 1972. Mahaleo's lyrics draw upon the indirect language of traditional hainteny and ohabolana (Malagasy poetry and proverbs) to expose contemporary political and social issues and invite listeners to identify their own solutions. Mahaleo performs a genre they pioneered, called tsentsigat, that draws from the acoustic folk and protest song genres as well as the diverse musical traditions of Madagascar. Each of the band members sings, and all but one also play acoustic guitar. In addition, the band makes use of traditional instruments like the kabosy guitar and sodina flute. Mahaleo formed spontaneously at the rotaka protests, which expressed popular rejection of the policies and repression of president Philibert Tsiranana's neo-colonial administration. On the first day of the protests in Antsirabe, Dama and Raoul performed a song they called "Matoa 'Zahay Manao Girevy" ("Why We're on Strike") which Dama had composed shortly before. As they entertained protesters at their high school, they were joined by the other members of the group to compose and perform new songs with diverse themes ranging from politics to love. In t...