Makéda Manne’s journey is as diverse as it is hopeful – she has hand-sewn the threads of dreams of a music career together into her reality.
Her musical background reaches all the way back where she would sing at church. Despite attending music school for one year during her time in Australia, her career as a working woman began in journalism and Manne’s desire to pursue a career in international relations led her to the US, where worked at the Senate.
In 2013 she formed pop-gospel group Horizon Louange. The band enjoyed great success, playing hundreds of shows through Europe before taking it transatlantic, performing around the US and Canada. But Manne still had dreams of a solo career, where she could bring herself into her music and claim her identity as a biracial woman. It is no wonder, then, that her music has been a space for her to sing it loud and clear, “I am here, I am me, this is me – and no-one can take that away”.
Two years ago, she went on tour with big-name South African rapper and queer activist Dope Saint Jude, playing DOUR Festival in Belgium, one of the biggest in the continent and many others across Europe. The friendship that developed was nourishing in many dimensions, a bold and hugely empowering woman whose voice sings her truth – just like Makéda.
Telling tales of love, family and faith, she is introducing herself to us as the woman she is, not what others want her to be. As with all introductions, there is much more of the story to be told, and after this release it is to be sure that eager ears will ready to hear it all.
