Born Afrikan

Genre : Reggae
City : Johannesburg
Country : South Africa

Biography

Born Nelson Shaba in Blantyre, Malawi in 1974 on the 12th of October, Born Afrikan comes from a family of three brothers and two sisters. He is the middle one. Born Afrikan started playing music at the very young age of five at secondary schools and also with his uncle who had a band in the rural areas of Mzimba, Elangeni village in Malawi. Their band instruments consisted of guitars made out of gallon containers and drums made out of cow skin and Coca Cola/Fanta bottle tops. His favourite instrument was the drum which still remains today although he plays a bit of guitar as well. Besides the Sunday school choir sessions and his uncle’s band experience, radio played a major role in influencing his love of music. At that time in Malawi, there was one radio station, MBC (Malawi Broadcasting Corporation) run by the state. Born Afrikan grew up listening to all kinds of music e.g. disco, reggae, pop, rock, country music, Rumba, traditional Malawian music, South African music, etc. Growing up as a teenager in the city of Blantyre, Born Afrikan used to participate in what was called Rap/Raggae competitions. In 1994, after finishing secondary school, all Born Afrikan wanted to do was record music. He achieved this with the influence of one of Malawi’s own artists, Luscious Banda. Luscious had just recorded his music in South Africa and was an instant hit in Malawi. Born Afrikan decided to follow suit and for the fact that South Africa had better facilities too. So around that time, he packed his bags and left for South Africa to try record his music. Things did not happen as he had anticipated when he moved to South Africa. Born Afrikan then resorted to juggling to surviving in the big city of Johannesburg while still keeping he music dream alive by writing songs and performing in different places at every opportunity presented. From 2004, Born Afrikan started performing with a live band. The year 2008 saw him releasing his debut CD THE PAST, PRESENT AND THE FUTURE. Since then Born Afrikan has performed in different places e.g. Malawi, Swaziland etc and also with different musicians e.g. Tidal Waves, the internationals (Belgium) 340ml, Sizzla Kalonji Jamaica’s top reggae artist, when he came to South Africa for the second time.