Tiwonge Hango sets benchmark with Thyola

The way of life, or say, culture, including music, is dynamic. In Malawi, it is fast becoming urbanised. The youth are the most responding to this change.

Take Tiwonge Hango’s new video Thyola, for instance, is responding to these urban aspirations.

Thyola is a love song, addressing class differences in relationships. Through the first stanza, it explains that people can love one another despite the class one is coming from.

In the song, the female character is coy at accepting that she is in love with the persona.

But all signs are clear that she is in love with him. She fails to look him in the face. She keeps beeping him in the middle of the night, but whenever he calls back she feigns ignorance, saying “it was a wrong number.”

The persona, therefore, invites her for a dance because both know it that they are in love.

Hango has encrypted his message with Afro-jazz—where he is using vocals and rhythms, but he has delivered it in a danceable beat.

The beat itself is also a message on its own. It calls on listeners to dance. The title Thyola, an imagery for dance advances the same message.

Moving pictures in the video are also keeping up with the urban aspirations. Scenes in an aeroplane, limousine, swimming pool, and the dance at The Key Lounge portray the good life associated with urban life.

Verdict? The video has revealed Tiwonge Hango’s innovative side of life and his ambitious, but achievable, dream of breaking into the international music scene.

In addition, the video is for both his old fans, those in love with his jazz, and the new urban generation. But it leans more towards the latter.