Ivete Mafundza

A little of the history of Mozambique does not harm! It was on April 01, 1909 that the governments of the then overseas province of Mozambique and of the Transvaal (former South African province) signed the 1^st Convention, which allowed the recruitment of workers to the Transvaal mining industry.

At that time, the province’s economy was dominated, in the centre and north, by large plantations operated by non-Portuguese majestic companies, where monoculture of export products was practiced. In the south, the export of labour predominated to feed the mining capital of South Africa.

The export of Mozambicans gave good returns to the colonial state. But … what does this have to do with Iveth? ?! Well, the parents of the biographer are from Chókwè, Gaza province, southern Mozambique, and under that agreement, the father was exported and worked as a miner in South Africa. [On the impact of this, we will write …]

It was in the late 70’s. The town had just been renamed Vila Trigo de Morais, to Chókwè. Henrique Mafundza met Maria Machavane and got delighted. And some time later they started dating.

The relationship was not well received at Maria’s house. The mother did not agree with their possible marriage, because the daughter was an orphan father and the most advanced in the studies. She wanted to see Maria working and taking care of the family.

Love spoke louder in the minds of Henrique and Maria. In the early 1980s, they decided to flee from Gaza to the neighbouring province, Maputo. In the Mozambican capital, they began a life to two and living together.

As a result of the relationship, on February 13, 1985, Ivete Marlene Rosária Mafundza was born. Because her father was a miner, the newborn grew up in an environment of music because Henrique returned with many vinyl records whenever he returned from South Africa at the end of the year.

Ivete’s childhood and adolescence were spent in the neighbourhoods of Museum, Coop, and Triunfo; areas of the capital. Her first passion was dance. She liked to dance Xitsuketa, Pop Music, and Mapandzula, musical rhythms that were successful at the time.

Throughout her growth she was losing her ability to dance. Under the influence of her brother, Patrick, and his friends, who liked Rap, Ivete fell in love with that musical style a year after entering the Secondary School of Polana. In 1997, she started singing at school. He made music with friends, from musical groups in his neighbourhood.

The passion was hard when she knew the route and the works of the rapper Lauryn Hill. She saw in her a complete woman, for being a singer, composer, rapper, producer, mother and, above all, intelligent, something she felt through the content of the song sung by Lauryn. Another determining factor for the choice of musical style was that Ivete talked a lot and saw rap as the only channel I could use to express her various ideas in a single song.

Hip-Hop in Mozambique is viewed biased by a considerate number of people. However, Ivete was not reprimanded by her parents for opting for the rap road, but they put two conditions on her: studying and getting good grades at school. “I was clever. I took good marks at school, that’s why my parents let me sing . “

Between 1997 and 2001, Ivete went through several sets of Hip-Hop (featured for Sweet Girls), and began writing poems. The musical career began officially in 2001, in the group The Beat Crew. It is a group of hip-hop, that appeared in the neighbourhood of the Coop and was constituted by Sick Brain, Makanaki, Madc, Nick Slim and Iveth (her artistic name), or Crazy Black Chick (CBC). It was in The Beat Crew, where she learned to make Hip-Hop conscious, positive, interactive and educational.

She and other members of that group promoted a children’s day event in 2004, aimed at the street child, where the ticket was purchased in exchange for pieces of clothing, food products that reverted in favour of street children.

Later, Iveth was part of the female group named Mcs, a group of the hip-hop-making women whose project didn’t work out.

After seeing injustices in radio news, television and newspapers, the dream of being a lawyer was born. After finishing high school at Joaquim Chissano Secondary School in 2003, she was admitted to the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM).

A year after joining College (2005), Ivete’s joys were replaced by tears, because of the death of her father, Henrique Mafundza.

The year was also a turning point in her artistic life and in the legal field. Still in the second year of her course, Ivete began her internship at the Mozambican Women’s Association of Legal Careers. In terms of music, CBC began her solo career, releasing the hit single “Erga-te te e seja feliz”, a song that won the award for “Best Mozambican Hip-Hop Female Singer” at the end of the same year. , in the contest promoted by the radio program named Hip-Hop Time.

Her involvement in social projects was repeated between 2007 and 2008. She was part of the “Poder na Voz” Project as a Hip-Hop artist, where in a group with Mr. Arsen they accompanied students from Laulane Secondary Schools, Matola and Namaacha, always teaching the positive, interventional and educational side of Hip-hop art, poetry and storytelling.

Working as a group with Simba, in the “Esh project, a gram of being Mozambican”, from the Community Development Fund (FDC), he followed up with the beginners of the district of Malhazine, with the aim of encouraging and accompanying competitors to make music with positive content and exalt patriotism, raise awareness of various social problems, and exalt the self-esteem of young people.

In college, Ivete was an active young woman and by that she became President of the University of Law Students’ Nucleus. At that stage of his life, he was harshly criticized at the school for singing rap, while studying law.

“Hip-Hop, in general, is seen as an art of fringe. Who does Hip-Hop? Who does not go to school, the gangsters and the violent ones. All this, for a girl … she’s studying right … this does not fit. “

However, Iveth proved the opposite, struggling more in her studies, mastering the subject and being able to get good grades. The young woman graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the expected time (four years). And the following year (2009) was called to teach as an assistant.

In the same year, she released the song “Amiga”, a hit single that preceded the release of his first album of originals “O convite”. The musical number addresses the issue of domestic violence. The music was an echo of women facing the social reality of gender-based violence. It should be noted that at that time it was part of the Cotonete Records label.

Still, in 2009, Ivete Mafundza was promoted to the position of Executive Director of the Mozambican Association of Legal Career Women (AMMCJ). And in that same year he participated in a series of four short-term exchanges and courses inside and outside the country, all linked to her area of ​​studies.

The following year, Nkosikazi (main wife), a pseudonym by which he is also known in the world of Hip-Hop, released her album “O convite”. The work has 20 musical tracks, where Iveth: advocates the cause of gender equality; denounces the perpetuation of male oppression; and questions the role of women in decision-making.

In fact, her presence in the AMMCJ contributed to cultivate in her the feminist. Iveth wears women’s clothes, especially her skirt and heels, when she goes on stage, in order to manifest feminism. “I’m a feminist. And for me, feminism is fighting for equality of opportunity between men and women. “Because Hip-Hop is not a Mozambican musical style, the owner of the hoarse voice seeks to mix rap with local rhythms like Tufo and Marrabenta.

Publicidade

Until then she had three activities: teaching in the EMU; rapper; and Executive Director at AMMCJ. In 2010, she held the position of Secretary General of the International Federation of Legal Career Women, for the Portuguese-speaking countries (2010-2013) and also attended classes at the ISCTEM (Instituto Superior de Ciências e Tecnologias de Moçambique), a private school in Mozambique. She even thought about stopping singing because of time issues, but her love for music forced him to forget the idea.

“My livelihood does not come from music, I’m a persistent on the music, and it is because there is not a music industry in Mozambique. I make music because of love and because I can it to promote the human rights, too.”

In the musical arena, Nkosikazi returned to win the award of “Best Mozambican Hip-Hop Female Singer”, with single “Afro”, released later in the year. The rapper stood out in 2011 with the same song, winning the “Most Popular Music” award at the Mozambique Music Awards.

The musical number values ​​the African being, as well as African cultures and traditions. The success began shortly after the release: considered music of the week in several radio programs; and Iveth became the artist of the month.

Also in 2011, Ivete started the Master’s degree course in Business Management at University of Liverpool (England). And she participated in an exchange event in Switzerland on Human Rights. In the same year, he became President of the Centre for Studies and Promotion of Citizenship, Human Rights and the Environment (CODD).

In 2012, the artist was invited by the State Department of the United States of America to participate in a special program for Hip-Hop singers in seven states. The project was named Hip Hop and Civic Engagement, and was the only Mozambican singer to represent the Mozambican Hip-Hop in that forum.

During that year, she was also a lecturer at Nachingwea University.

After being appointed in 2009, Ivete served as the Executive Director of the AMMCJ until 2012. At that time, she led the organization in advocacy for the human rights of women and children; advocacy for approval of laws in the Assembly of the Republic; in legal aid activities. Still in 2012, she became a lawyer in the Human Rights League, a position she held until 2014.

Together with Morreira Chonguiça, Iveth joined the musical project named “100% cool” – where her message was aimed at young people in the context of raising awareness about HIV-AIDS, in order to raise awareness of the need for protection in sexual relations.

The taste for poetry was manifested in 2014. The artist was co-author of the book “Perifeminas II – Sem Fronteiras”. Conceived by the National Front of Women in Hip-Hop Brazil, the work is a compilation of poems, short stories and reports of women who are part of the Hip-Hop culture. The book was released in Brazil.

In the same year, she also became a Master’s Degree in Pedagogy of Higher Education by ISCTEM, where she teaches. In that year she also performed several activities: resident lawyer for the radio program Legal Office Radio Índico; Legal Advisor and Head of Department of Support to Projects in the Scientific Directorate, at the Rectory of UEM. She was a panellist in two debates, promoted in the Mozambican capital, one by the Community of Portuguese Language and another by the Law School of UEM, where she is a teacher.

In 2015, she became a master’s degree in Human Rights by UEM. The following year, he celebrated his Master’s Degree in Human Rights. On the day of the Graduation Ceremony, Ivete was unable to restrain herself and her happiness overflowed into social networks, sharing the moment with her fans through a post. Also in 2016, he was promoted to the position of President of the Human Rights Commission of the Mozambican Bar Association. She also became a Trainer in the Training Course for Public Prosecution Service Magistrates.

“To reconcile those activities, I separate the artist Iveth and Ivete, the lawyer. During the week I am a lawyer and on the weekends, at night, I am a rapper. And I do everything so that no activity will harm the other because I like all of them. “

Still about this separation, once the ISCTEM students asked Iveth to a track, about this distinction and she told them that, at moment it was not possible to do and promised that he would do it at the end of the year party. The students finally understood. Good! The magazine Biography will wait for Freestyle, while sharing, after the next paragraph, the lyrics of the song “Amiga”, one of Iveth’s songs that were very successful.

It remained to be written

In 2006, Ivete was considered the best student in the Project named “Férias Desenvolvendo o Distrito”, Moma district, Nampula. In 2007 she was the winner of the largest African Human Rights Competition – Moot Court Competition in Senegal – Dakar and Saint Louis, along with Américo Marindze, with the best team awards and best claims for lusophone. He was a columnist in the book “Gender and Rights”, launched in 2010 by the Department of Sociology of UEM. “My prison is freedom of speech” and it is one of her favourite phrases. [End]