Clean Country

Shishani means ‘crown’ in Namibia's native languages. She is a talented vocalist, guitarist and songwriter loved for her smooth and powerful voice. Her roots are Namibian and Belgian in origin, but she grew up mainly in the Netherlands. In her work she bring these worlds together. Her vocal style has been influenced by Afro-American and African music traditions, giving her a truly unique sound. Her music is comforting and has a thread of strong social consciousness running through it. She is founder of Miss Catharsis (2019), an all-female group voicing stories by women of colour. She is co-founder of Namibian Tales (2015) and acoustic quartet delving into the musical heritage of Namibia.

She has performed internationally at Glastonbury Festival (UK), Afrika Festival Wurzburg (Germany), Amsterdam Roots Festival, Lake of Stars (Malawi) and various countries including France, Czech Republic, Poland, Ireland, Greece, Italy, India, Morocco, Moldova, Latvia, South Korea, China, Jordan, Kenya, South Africa, and her home countries, Netherlands, Belgium and Namibia.

Achievements:

2012 - Song “Minority” nominated for 2 awards at Namibian Annual Music Awards (2012)

2012 - Winner “Last Band Standing”, Namibia 

2013 - Winner Singer-Songwriter Competition “Mooie Noten” Amsterdam

2014 – Finalist Radio France International Awards

2016 – Winner Best Album in World Music Production, Netherlands

2017 – Winner Best Album in World Music Production, Netherlands

2020 - Nominee Amsterdam Prize of the Arts

Academia

In her work as an anthropologist (BA) & musicologist (MA) she has specialised in contemporary urban Namibian music. She has written on this topic for the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Contemporary Music of the World, Music in Africa, and the book The Changing Faces of Aawambo Music Arts was launched. Together with the Namibian Tales quartet, Shishani collaborated on a unique international project with UNESCO and the Museums Association of Namibia on safeguarding cultural heritage through archiving and producing new music in collaboration with San communities in Namibia.

Shishani

Popular tracks