Afro-jazz leading lady Erna Chimu belongs to an elite class of Namibian female songbirds who switched successfully from backup singer to prominent solo artist.
The best female artist of 2014 at the Namibian Music Awards also made Africa take serious note after two Kora Awards nominations.
Chimu was nominated in the best newcomer and best female artist in southern Africa categories.
Born at Ondekaremba near Windhoek, Chimu was only eight months old when she was left in the care of her grandmother, Paulina Tjombe, who brought her up at a farm in the Khorixas district until she started school.
“I was brought up in a strict but very musical environment. My grandmother loved to sing. She would even sing while she was crying, and my father, Christopher Kandorozu, is still a masterful guitar player,” Chimu recalls.
“My grandfather, Adolf //Aiseb, was a strict man. I grew up as a tomboy with my brother and three cousins. I did almost everything they did as young boys.
“I eventually came to stay with my mother in Windhoek after my grandmother fell sick, and it was also time for me to come start school,” she says.
Chimu has released three studio albums to date.
She first dropped ‘Imama Kunguwe’ (Swahili for “my source of love and life”) in 2009, followed by ‘Haiserute’ in 2014, while her third album, ‘Uprising’, was released in 2020.
In 2021 Chimu and Patricia Ochurus collaborated on a single titled ‘/Nororo’.
Dubbed ‘Mama Africa’ by her strong fan base in Cameroon and Congo, the runner-up of the 2013 Last Band Standing competition wowed crowds with her songs, like ‘//Ae Tama Ta Ha’ (Damara for “I don’t care”), ‘/Honos’, ‘Daniba Sam Re’, ‘Telewaniba’ (the San version), ‘≠Âureb’ and ‘Uprising’.
Chimu entered the music industry as a 14-year-old pupil at Namutoni Senior Primary School after she, her music teacher and renowned keyboardist Willem //Hoebeb started entertaining people at weddings and birthday parties.
//Hoebeb would play the keyboard, and Chimu would sing.
“It was very weird how I first started singing in front of people. Apart from being part of the family choir and the school choir, I was singing solo for both choirs, and the other members would complain that I liked making myself heard by over-elaborating my lines.
“They even called me ‘spoiler’, saying I’m always out of line. With teacher //Hoebeb I was mostly singing Brenda Fassie’s hits.
“Never mind the lyrics, I just sang as I heard the songs, because English wasn’t anyone’s friend at the time,” she says.
Two years later, while a Grade 10 pupil at Augustineum Secondary School, she started singing backing vocals for her brothers’ group, Da First World, which later gained countrywide fame as the reggae group Shemyetu.
It was during her Shemyetu days that reggae star Ras Sheehama came to know Chimu.
“I first saw her on stage when she was just a back-up singer for her brothers’ band. I didn’t know she had the potential to become a solo artist,” Sheehama says.
“I like Erna because she is original and she does things differently than all the other ladies in local showbiz.
“She is a talented musician and very much in charge of her career. She fuses traditional music well with jazz.
“She also has a very good band that is solidly behind her,” says Sheehama, who performed with Chimu on local as well as international stages.
It was during her years with Shemyetu, with whom she spent 25 years as a backing vocalist, that she discovered her talent as a songwriter.
She wrote most of the lyrics on their debut album, ‘Jah Is Love’.
Top MC and popular radio personality Andre Gariseb helped Chimu launch her solo career.
“I am honoured to have worked with Erna during her earlier days as a solo artist. I only helped to launch her solo career,” Gariseb says.
“I am well connected in the media as well as the music industries. I also organised her first gig at the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC).
“One thing about Erna is that she is disciplined, committed and dedicated, and she always wanted to be unique. She is a strong band leader who ensures that everybody is in line,” he says.
Chimu fuses Afro-jazz with traditional folk music and pursued her awe-inspiring career in 2007.
“It was always my dream to go solo because I fancied the challenge of working independently. I wanted to write, compose and sing my own songs, backed by musicians of my choice,” she says.
“I had to take the bold step to leave my brothers’ band.
“I had my first gig, known as the African Renaissance Concert, at the FNCC in 2007. It was a life-changing experience and a very proud moment for me. I could not believe I pulled it off without any hiccups,” she says.
Chimu has performed in front of thousands of people at the 11th edition of the annual Fespan Music Festival, which continues to attract musicians from all over the world to Congo (Brazzaville).
She has also performed at big festivals in countries like Cameroon, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and China.
Chimu, who grew up listening to Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Salif Keita and Miriam Makeba, says she is inspired to tell her own story in her own language.
She gave a show-stopping performance during the recent Windhoek Jazz Festival.
“It is not always that one sees Erna dancing,” she says.
“My aim when I went on stage during the jazz festival was to try hard not to look dull. I must say the crowd lifted me to new heights. I felt their energy flowing through me.
“Nothing was rehearsed, but when I saw the people jiving to my music, I just decided to give them back the same energy.”
Leave a Reply