Desire Marea’s Genre-Melting Music Stirs South Africa, and the World
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on November 7, 2023
On a crisp Thursday morning hours before Desire Marea’s performance at the Transform Festival in Leeds, England, earlier this month, the South African songwriter sat in Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve, communing with his Zulu ancestors. It’s a practice he honed through his training as a sangoma, a traditional spiritual healer, and it is essential to his craft.
“There’s no music if my ancestors aren’t invited and . . .
