Outspoken

BIO

Outspoken (real name Tongai Leslie Makawa) is a poet and musician from Zimbabwe. He was born on 22 September 1983 in Harare. He began writing music when he was Grade Five. His interest in poet led him to become part of the house of hunger poetry slam. He is co founder of Magamba Network that is an organization that promotes events, artist, word fusion activities and the expression on the urban cultural scene in the country. He works as a solo artist but he has band called The Essence which plays drums, bass, guitar, violin and brass. They have been working together since his upcoming.

In 2012, he and his band released double debut albums titled ‘Uncode and Overrated’ and ‘God Before Anything’. His music and poems are politically inspired by the educational system. His music is a depiction on how people move from slavery to being colonized to a state of freedom that hasn’t been fully achieved. His work has reached different places such as the U.S., South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Germany, Belgium and many more. Apart from music, he is a mentor at Power in the Voice, a British Council programme, which seeks to better the performance arts by targeting talented youth and mentoring them in their various disciplines.