Zuchu Makes Spotify EQUAL Africa Artist List

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The ambassador for Spotify’s EQUAL Africa music programme for the month of May is Tanzanian Afropop and Bongo Flava artist, Zuchu, a statement from the streaming platform has announced.

Zuchu, whose real name is Zuhura Othman Soud, is the daughter of legendary Taarab musician, Khadija Kopa, with whom she sang Mauzauza. She joins East African stars Muthoni Drummer Queen and Sylvia Ssaru in amplifying the voices of talented African women through EQUAL.

She is currently signed to Diamond Platnumz’ WCB Wasafi record label. In 2021, she released a record-breaking track, Sukari, which has raked in more than 2 million Spotify listeners.

The talented singer first entered the music scene in 2015 through a karaoke-themed talent search competition in Lagos, Nigeria. Five years later, she gained the limelight through her hit song Cheche featuring Diamond Platnumz.

Earlier this year, she released a single entitled Mwambieni and is featured on both the EQUAL Africa and EQUAL Global playlists on Spotify, earning her a spot on the EQUAL music programme, which aims to strengthen gender equality in music by showcasing talented African women making waves in the industry and providing a platform to celebrate them.

“Being part of the EQUAL programme is a big thing for me and it helps encourage other female musicians to persevere and shatter systematic gender restrictions in the realm of music,” the artist enthused.

According to her, “In addition to exposing me to the musical power that can come from the female experience, women in song have also helped me realise that we can overcome the setbacks that are part-and-parcel of working in the male-dominated world of Afrobeats.”

Commenting on the inclusion of musician on the list of the initiative’s ambassadors, the Head of Music in Sub-Saharan Africa at Spotify, Phiona Okumu, stated that, “We are thrilled to have Zuchu join the EQUAL Programme. She is evidently one of the most talented artists from Tanzania, and this is a well-deserved accolade for her.”

Okumu noted that Spotify is committed to spotlighting female artists in Africa with the hopes that this initiative ignites other young and upcoming female artists in the music industry to stay on course and keep doing what they do.