Xixel Langa – Pure courage and inspiration

If we talk about Xisseve Janett Hortêncio Ernesto Langa Mahuaie, few will know who she is, but the mention of the name Xixel Langa will certainly turn on a lightbulb and bring a face to memory!

An artist in essence, as she describes herself, she is also the daughter of artists, her mother a dancer who, curiously, was also an executive, and her father, the unavoidable name of Mozambican music, Hortêncio Langa.

In her youth, and after some time at the Dance School, Xixel collaborated with some dance groups and also with bands of young artists, as a chorus girl and dancer. Timbila Muzimba, Kapa Dech, Félix Moya and Roberto Isaías were some of the bands and individual figures who had the pleasure of counting on her collaboration. Xixel was thus taking the first steps in her career, which had the little push of someone very special, as she tells us. “As I have always been in the singing and dancing wing, I started to work more on singing, at the request of my brother Texito Langa. From then on, several participations in shows followed and I gained visibility.” And she adds “it took a lot of courage”.

And her courage was worth so much to her that she was rewarded for it. “I received the Revelation and Best Voice awards, the latter twice, one of them recently, and the biggest award was for Best Song.” For Xixel, these distinctions gave her work value, consolidated her as an artist and had a very positive impact on her career.

In 2017, almost 20 years since the beginning of her career, the singer released her first album, entitled Inside Me. According to her, the album came at a unique moment in her life, when she finally decided which direction to take, that she really wanted to be an artist. And not just any artist, but focused on Afro Jazz. Pregnant at the time, she confesses that she was very sensitive, very “connected to everything”, and that inspiration came from all sides. “It was a beautiful moment. When I went to record in Cape Town, I was very well received, and I confess that they also understood my concept of Mozambican Afro Jazz.”

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But it wasn’t all roses. The album took about two years to record, as a result of several factors, including distance and availability. Fortunately, financially, she received a lot of support from “an anonymous individual and the Cultural Department of the Bank of Mozambique.”

Despite this gap of 20 years between the beginning of her career and the release of the first album, Xixel recognizes that it came at the right time. She didn’t just want to record and never bet on the industry again. For her, bringing an album to life meant the beginning of a stable career. And the waiting time paid off, as she poetically explained to us: “Inside Me represents me and my sources of inspiration and is therefore a demonstration of who I was until 2015.”

“Inside Me represents me and my sources of inspiration and is therefore a demonstration of who I was until 2015.” – Xixel Langa

But music was not always the first option. Passionate about History, Xixel reveals that if she weren’t a singer, she would choose Sociology or Anthropology. It’s a good thing she didn’t, or she wouldn’t have brought back the happy memories of all the places where music took her! And we would lose her velvety voice, so committed to revealing all the cultural wealth that the country has, and which inspires her so much.

Issue 75 Sept/Oct | Download.