Esinam Dogbatse (flute, synths, vocals, fx, percussion) | Sibusile Xaba (guitar, vocals, percussion)

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ESINAM & Sibusile Xaba is a meeting of nomadic, wandering and kindred spirits in music. Both artists draw upon their ancestry: Belgian-Ghanaian (ESINAM) and Kwazulu Natal-South Africa (Sibusile Xaba) through a unique connection, a deep artistic and spiritual levels they use rhythms and grooves to translate stories to the audience. Their vocal chanting enhances trance to rhythmic patterns that grace us by melodies of the future and past.

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On April 25th 2025, ESINAM & Sibsile Xaba will release their first joint album entitled ‘Healing Voices’.

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This album is a reflection of the kaleidoscopic multitude of musical inspirations running through the veins of two very talented solo artists. Both multi-instrumentalists, they provide many different layers to their music. Each track is a reflection of their cross-pollination. Musically inspired by Ghanaian Highlife and traditional songs from Zulu and Ewe culture, but with a distinct contemporary interpretation where their acoustic sound is enhanced by electronic gadgets. 

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As multi-instrumentalists, the two artists translate messages from their ancestors through rhythms and grooves. Their vocal chanting enhances trance to rhythmic patterns that grace us by melodies of the future and past.

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Thanks to their Belgian-Ghanaian and South-African roots, they are unique in their being, strong in their union and connected on deep artistic and spiritual levels. The collaboration between ESINAM and Sibusile Xaba is bringing healing to body and soul.

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In 2018 Esinam discovered Sibusile Xaba during his European (solo)tour. She was enchanted by his musical energy and craftsmanship and invited him as a vocal guest feature on the track ‘Flowing River’, from her debut album ‘Shapes in Twilights of infinity’. When she was asked at the first edition of WOMAD Festival in South Africa if she wanted to collaborate with a ‘local artist’, she didn’t have to think twice.

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So in October 2022, Esinam and Sibusile seized this opportunity to dive into the rehearsal and recording studio, and discover and combine each other’s musical universes to shape up new music together. Both artists wish to elaborate on these musical seeds that were planted and we hope to harvest together with them the fruits of an intense musical collaboration by May 2023, after a residency in the venue Le Botanique in Brussels.

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In 2018, ESINAM discovered Sibusile Xaba during his European (solo) tour. Enchanted by his musical energy and craftsmanship, she invited him to be a vocal guest on the track ‘Flowing River’ from her debut album ‘Shapes in Twilights of infinity’. When asked at the first WOMAD Festival in South Africa if she wanted to collaborate with a ‘local artist’, she didn’t have to think twice. In October 2022, Esinam and Sibusile jumped at the opportunity to dive into the rehearsal and recording studio together, exploring and combining their musical universes into new creations.

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In May 2023 this collaboration continued with rehearsals, recordings and a first European tour with performances at Druga Godba (Slovenia), Music Meeting Nijmegen (The Netherlands), Munich Africa Day and PrivatClub Berlin (Germany).

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A first single ‘Africa Wola’ was released in March 2024 as a result of their participation in BabelMusic XP (France), after a residency in Mozambique and a series of concerts in March 2024, they went back into the studio in July 2024 to frame their album. 

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In November 2024, they released a remix of their first single by South-African DJ and producer DaCapo and played at Visa for Music in Morocco.