#wiyaala

Music and musicians from Africa Part 3: Noella Wiyaala 

Ghanaian singer Noella Wiyaala (known under the stage name Wiyaala) is one of Africa’s rising stars. She sings in her native Sissala and Waale dialects as well as English, often combining all three languages in one song. She’s also a social activist who’s outspoken about male-dominated culture and polygyny in African countries. Here she is with Make Me Dance.

More links for further reading (and viewing):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiyaala

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-45760756/ghanaian-afro-pop-star-wiyaala-on-forging-her-own-path

One of Africa’s brightest music stars, Wiyaala, dubbed “The Young Lioness of Africa”, renowned not just for her vocal and writing talents but as a champion of women’s rights around the world, is now intent on drawing attention to the issue of endangered languages and aims to put it on the political agenda.

As a native of Ghana, Wiyaala is acutely aware of the concerns across the globe relating to the extinction of species but believes that the extinction of languages should also be pushed to the forefront of people’s minds. She has therefore decided that on her soon-to-be released new album, in addition to her commercial pop sound, epitomised by her latest release, “Better Treat Me Right”, she should also include tracks recorded in the dialect of Sisaala spoken in her home village of Funsi.

The latest surveys estimate that less than one thousand people in the North Western area of Ghana bordering Burkina Faso still speak this dialect.

As Wiyaala explains:

"I love to sing in Sisaala. It is sonically beautiful. Like folk songs from all "local" languages, Sisaala songs contain deep truths about context, living and being. In different villages they have different sounds for the same thing. For example, in Tumu, “Wia” can mean “God” or “Sun”; in Funsi, the word is “Wiisi”; in Walembale (between Tumu and Funsi), they say “Wihi”. And yet everybody knows the meaning”

“If I sing Sisaala songs to you and you like them, the language and culture will live on. Therefore, if I can encourage others to look to music as a way to keep their cultural languages alive then I feel that there is a chance to draw attention to the issue of ‘language extinction’. This is not just an issue for third world countries but one that exists very much in Europe as well. We need to ask ourselves the question of how to save languages only spoken by a small number in order to maintain our identity.”

Wiyaala sings “Wiisi” in Sisaala below 

With a week to go until the first semi-final, it’s time to announce the first 10 acts who will be featuring at some point during the selection process for Ghana’s entry to @africavision!

Becca

Bisa Kdei

Efya

Fuse ODG

Guvna B

MzVee

Reggie ‘n’ Bollie

Stonebwoy

Tinchy Stryder

Wiyaala

If you would like to recommend any other artists to be entered into the semi-final stage, leave us a message either here or here.