Young People Must Never Allow Culture to Die – Shikongeni

Ndasuunje ‘Papa’ Shikongeni, who describes himself as a naturalist and creative artist, is someone who puts a lot of value on his roots and heritage.
Born in Windhoek, Shikongeni grew up with his grandmother at Okahandja, where he discovered his love for music and visual arts.

Shikongeni explains: “I was exposed to singing by my grandmother, who loved singing church hymns and old Oshiwambo traditional songs at home. My mother also used to sing in the church and my father, who was a liberation struggle activist, used to sing freedom songs.

“Okahandja is the place where most of the top musicians originate from. My grandmother would later tell me that I used to draw images on the ground and build houses and cars from sand as a young boy. I guess that is where my future as a visual artist was shaped.”

It did not come as a surprise that the highly energetic Shikongeni started singing in school concerts, explaining that the music from now late duo Kwela and Lexington from northern Namibia also inspired his career as a musician.

“Tate Kwela has a child with my aunt and it is only natural that his music would be played in our house. Okahandja was a town of musical people and the oviritje music of today emanates from the concerts that we played back in the days,” he points out.

“My grandmother sold an assortment of homebrewed traditional drinks and our house was always crowded with patrons. Okahandja being a town of meat as well, my grannie also sold cooked dried meat, tripe, cattle trotters and barbecue to her customers.”

Shikongeni went into exile in the 1980s and upon his return after the implementation of Resolution 435, he was involved with mobilising people to vote for Swapo leading up to the first democratic elections under the watch of the United Nations in 1989.

“I was just singing revolutionary songs at the time until I would meet Ras Sheehama in 1993. I must admit that the brother just had this image of a pop star because he loved wearing caps on his dreadlocks and he always carried a guitar,” the award-winning star says.

“Ras and his band always rehearsed and I would go listen. I became interested in Rastafarian culture and also started to wear dreadlocks. I took a keen interest in music and started writing my own songs. I would also go to Ras for advice and he was always willing to help.”

Shikongeni, whose first big gig was with the Mighty Dreads at the Black Chain Shopping Centre in Katutura in 1994, takes pride in the fact that he sings about the realities of the world.

Soon the dreadlocked performer became a globetrotter who would be performing overseas in places like Lisbon, Portugal, and St Petersburg, Russia, in 1999.

It was about that same time he met renowned painter Joe Madisia, who taught him the importance of visual arts and whose drawings stirred Shikongeni’s creative mind.

“I was always someone who loved reading and I mostly read conscious books by people like Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere. Those teachings also transformed my conversation with God and my outlook on people and life in general changed completely,” he says.

“I am always inspired by the realities of life. My love for books also made me discover my self-love and the spirit of my grandfather also transformed into me. My first book that I actually started reading was the Bible. The Old Testament to be specific.”

Shikongeni thanks people like Madisia for the life lessons that taught him how to juggle his music and art careers. He also thanks late journalist Beata Kasale for introducing him to conscious books.

He says Madisia advised him to position himself in such a way that one of his careers would be able to sustain the other.

“It kind of means that I should spend money, in order to make money,” he explains.

Shikongeni’s creative mind has also inspired himself into fashion and he designs most of his clothes. He also discovered another quality in himself, which is a cultural activist whose quest for African unity inspired him to study the cultures of others.

With seven albums behind his name, of which three are still to be released, Shikingeni is now finalising work on a spiritual book based on people fighting with nature. His first book is a documentary and he has other books on baskets and pottery.

The musician was the director of the John Muafangejo Art Centre but he is now a full-time lecturer at the College of the Arts. He has also rubbed shoulders with internationally renowned stars like Ismael Lo of Senegal and France-based Cameroonian artist Manu Dibango, who were brought to Namibia by the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre.

Shikongeni’s advice to young and aspirant musicians is not to be engulfed by modern-day music, especially the meaningless South African amapiano and house music at the expense of their own traditional music.

“Our young artists need to do research on their forefathers and ancestors. It is not only about the beautiful modern-day beats, but it has everything to do with pride and heritage. They must go to the old music gurus and ask what a chorus, dynamism and music discipline is about.”

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