The Zawose Queens' music exudes fire and enthusiasm. The sound of the ancestors' vibrations may be heard in the soaring chizeze fiddle, the buzzing illimba thumb piano, the chattering and thunderous ngoma drums and the deep, high and ethereal vocals. Their synthesis of organic, harmonic and contemporary electronic elements, influenced by dance, embodies a relationship to nature, ceremony and tradition. There are lyrics that describe the love of music and the beauties of life in their native Kigogo language of pride in customs and surroundings in their ancestry in East Africa.
Pendo and Leah Zawose perform the Gogo (also known as Wagogo) people of the dry, hilly Dodoma region of central Tanzania. They are known for their flowing polyrhythms and ecstatic polyphonic singing.
The most well-known practitioner of this musical legacy is the late, renowned Dr. Hukwe Zawose, who was Leah's grandfather and father of Pendo.
The Zawose Queens' debut album, Maisha, is the first time that female members of their well-known musical family have assumed the role of lead vocalists and performers. The Zawose Queens were inspired to write their first songs after participating in songwriting and music production workshops with guest UK producers Oli Barton-Wood (Jordan Rakei, Obongjayar, Nilufer Yanya) and Tom Excell (Nubiyan Twist, Onipa). The final set of tracks includes everything from classic, plain-sounding tunes to ones that have been subtly altered with electronic beats, dips and transitions..

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