Pick of the Week - Jackson Kaujeua (Namibia)

Our very first Pick of the Week from Namibia is "Kalahari," by the late Jackson Kaujeua. With a chorus that's "permanently imprinted on my brain after just a few listens."

Our focus here has been on the southern African countries of Botswana, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa, with the odd detour into Zambia, East Africa, and elsewhere.

For a while now I've been wanting to feature something from Namibia (which lies just west of Botswana) and I recently ran across this song by Jackson Kaujeua, with a chorus that is permanently imprinted on my brain after just a few listens.

Jackson Kaujeua died in 2010 at the age of 56. His song, "Kalahari," is apparently one of his best-known. Listening to it, I couldn't help but be reminded a bit of Oliver Mtukudzi, from Zimbabwe.

Here's a snip from Kaujeua's obituary in the local press:

Jackson started his singing career in the 1970s as the lead singer of the group Black Diamond. This followed a short stint studying music at the ‘Dorkay Art and Music College for Talented Non-Whites’ in South Africa. He was expelled from that country for anti-apartheid activism, which resulted in him moving to Botswana and later to the UK with the help of Swapo, where he joined Black Diamond.

He also served as a teacher in an Angolan refugee camp for a short stint in 1979, before returning to Namibia around the time of Independence in 1990.Many of Kaujeua’s earlier songs still enjoy popularity today.These include the internationally acclaimed ‘Winds of Change’, ‘!Nubu !Gubus’ (Short and Round in Damara) and ‘Kalahari’.Kaujeua was also a founding member of the Ndilimani Cultural Group.