Tanzania: Abigail Chams named Spotify EQUAL Africa artist

Abigail is a multilingual singer who performs in Swahili, French and English. She is also a multi-instrumentalist who plays five musical instruments: the violin, piano, guitar, flute and drums.

The ‘Nani’ hitmaker was born into a family with a musical heritage where her grandfather directed an orchestra and her grandmother sang in the church choir. She rose to prominence by sharing covers of popular songs on social media at a young age, and later captured listeners’ attention with original tracks that combined hip hop melodies, modern pop and traditional instrumentation.

The artist, who signed a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment Africa last year at the age of 19, released her debut EP titled 5 in September. The project features collaborations with Marioo, Rayvanny, Whozu and Chino Kid. She was nominated in the Emerging Artist category at the 2022 Tanzania Music Awards.

“Abigail is a true testament to the boundless talent and creativity that exists on the continent, having made such significant strides musically at such a young age,” Spotify’s sub-Saharan Africa head of music, Phiona Okumu, said. “We are proud to have her join our EQUAL programme, closing off what has been one of the best years for African music.”

Looking back at her career trajectory, Abigail notes it hasn’t all been plain sailing. “As a young woman in a male-dominated world of music, I had to learn to navigate it with a different compass,” she said. “Unfortunately this is twice as hard but it has ultimately shown me that no force can stop a woman who knows what she wants and stops at nothing to achieve it.”

The Spotify EQUAL Africa programme seeks to provide female artists with the support and resources to grow their craft and reach worldwide audiences through multiple playlists. The beneficiaries also receive off-platform guidance and tools to help take their music careers to greater heights.

Abigail says she has loved music since a young age and started learning to play musical instruments when was five years old. She performed onstage for the first time during a school talent show when she was eight. “It looked like a ginormous stage but felt like home, and from that day onwards, I knew that music was my destiny and the stage was where I belonged,” she said.

Growing up, Abigail listened to a wide variety of music, especially African artists like Davido, D'Banj, Tiwa Savage, Sauti Sol and 2Baba. “Davido’s ‘Dami Duro’ made me fall in love with Afrobeats and artists like Vanessa Mdee and Diamond Platnumz made me embrace bongo flava. But it was the Nigerian duo P-Square that really lit up my childhood.”

She says her music is characterised by lively pop melodies and arrangements that allow her to show off her wide vocal range. The singer advises upcoming artists to always follow their hearts. “If you are a dreamer and have big goals and aspirations, those dreams were placed in your heart for a reason. It doesn’t matter how big, how far or how wide they may be, that dream is in your heart and not anyone else’s because God knows you can achieve them,” she said.