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Music of Malawi
Isicathamiya and Mbaqanga from South Africa, Chimurenga mbira music of Zimbabwe, Malagasy valiha, Mozambican marrabenta and timbila.
Sung and searched in Chichewa. The YouTube button above can run your search in that language.
Roots and traditions
Malawian traditional music and dances
Traditional Malawian music has also found some commercial success, such as the folk fusionists Pamtondo, whose music uses rhythms from the Tumbuka, Lomwe, Makuwa and Mang'anja peoples. There have also been more traditionalist performers and banda, like Alan Namoko, Micheal Yekha, Ndingo brothers, Millennium Sound Checks and Waliko Makhala. In Malawi traditional dances include Manganje, Mganda, Tchopa, Beni, Malipenga, Ngoma, Chitelera, Likwata, Chiwoda, Masewe, Chimtali, Visekese, Khunju, Gule wa Mkulu and Chisamba.
Popular music
Malawian hip-hop/rap
Since 1994, rap has surged in Malawi from urban centers such as Blantyre and Lilongwe to rural areas as Nkhata Bay or Chitipa. Rap scenes in Malawi has been connected through nationwide institutional networks of radio and newspapers. Hip Hop culture from the United States, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean arrived through satellite television and video cassettes. Real Elements is the first Malawian music group to record Malawian urban music. who brought to Malawi an urban American sound with chichewa lyrics. They were featured on Channel O and performed in Malawi and opened in the UK for hip hop artists like Blak Twang. They inspired a new genre of Malawian music in the form of the urban hip-hop and rap music styles that was uniquely Malawian. Since the days of the Real Elements, the Malawian hip-hop genre has grown. This includes Young Kay,ostar masauko jnr Third Eye a.k.a.
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Playing now
What Malawi is listening to in 2026
Articles
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country: Malawi in its front matter.
Live radio
Radio from Malawi
Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.
Station directory by Radio Browser Streams come from each station's own server.