92-year-old Malawian music legend finds fame on TikTok

Chiradzulu, Malawi: At 92, Giddes Chalamanda has no idea what TikTok is. He doesn´t even own a smartphone.

And yet the Malawian music legend has become a social media star, with his song "Linny Hoo" garnering over 80 million views on the video-sharing platform and spawning mashups and remixes from South Africa to the Philippines.

"They come and show me the videos on their phones, but I have no idea how it works," Chalamanda told AFP at his home on the edge of a macadamia plantation, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Malawi´s main city Blantyre.

"But I love the fact that people are enjoying themselves and that my talent is getting the right attention," he said, speaking in Chewa.

Despite his grey hair and slight stoop, the nonagenarian singer and guitarist, who has been a constant presence on the Malawian music scene for seven decades, displays a youthful exuberance as he sits chatting with a group of young fans.

He first recorded "Linny", an ode to one of his daughters, in 2000.

But global acclaim only came two decades later when Patience Namadingo, a young gospel artist, teamed up with Chalamanda to record a reggae remix of "Linny" titled "Linny Hoo".

The black-and-white video of the recording shows a smiling, gap-toothed Chalamanda, nattily dressed in a white shirt and V-neck sweater, jamming with Namadingo under a tree outside his home, with a group of neighbours looking on.

The video went viral after it was posted on YouTube, where it racked up more than 6.9 million views. Then late last year, it landed on TikTok and toured the globe.

Chalamanda only learned of the song´s sensational social media popularity from his children and their friends.

Since then he and Namadingo have recorded remixes of several others of his best-known tracks.

His daughter Linny´s 16-year-old son Stepson Austin told AFP that he was proud of his grandfather´s longevity.

"It is good that he has lived long enough to see this day," said the youngster, who himself aspires to become a hip-hop artist.

Born in Chiradzulu, a small town in southern Malawi, Chalamanda won fame in his homeland with lilting songs such as "Buffalo Soldier" in which he dreams of visiting America and "Napolo".

Over the past decade, he has collaborated with several younger musicians and still performs across the country.