Iveth is the name of the Mozambican hip-hop singer. Originally named Ivete Marlene Rosária Mafundza Espada, she was born in Maputo and already at a very young age had an appreciation of music due to the influence of her family, specifically her father, who at the time was working as a miner in South Africa, brought back a large number of vinyl records at the end of each year. She grew up with the dream of being a singer, but it wasn't until she was a teenager that she decided on her musical style - Hip-Hop, having been colossally influenced by her older brother Patrick and his friends.
Iveth says she identifies with the songs of The Fugees, taking Lauryn Hill - her Diva - as a reference. So, in keeping with her dream, she started writing poems (love poems), which evolved into the Hip-Hop lyrics she presents today through her music and other writings.
He says his real start was in 1997, and he's been in various groups since then. Of particular note are Sweet Girls and Beat Crew. In the latter, Iveth says she has found stability and authenticity. Beat Crew, a hip-hop group from her then neighbourhood Coop made up of Sick Brain, Makanaki, MadC and Nick Slim, was her school of conscious, positive hip-hop and social intervention.
Later, Iveth was part of the Female Mcs collective, a group of female hip-hop producers, whose project did not bear fruit.
In 2005, Iveth released her first solo song "Erga-te e seja feliz" with production by Gringo, which at the end of the same year won her the award for best Mozambican Hip-Hop singer by the Hip-Hop Time radio programme.
In 2006 she released the song "Hip-hop ça va'' (Hip-Hop walks positively) on Cotonete Records, which continued her success as a woman who deserves respect.
In 2008 she released "Gregos & Troianos" (Greeks & Trojans), saying she was against the vandalisation of Hip-Hop through rivalries, a song that removed the doubts of those who still doubted her talent. He collaborated on the Gpro mixtape with "Kapulana Hip-Hop", a sound that went beyond Lusophone ears.
She has more than 15 collaborations with Hip-Hop singers and other musical styles such as Projecto Mabulo, Tufo da Mafalala, Cotonete Records, B.O.C, Dinastia Bantu, Yazalde, Náuseas, Female Mcs, Azagaia, Pitchó, Simba, Xiticu Ni Nbaula, Gpro, 911, Azagaia, Sick Brain, YURI MC, Stewart Sukuma, Morreira Chonguiça and others.
In 2009, Iveth released the single "Amiga" ahead of the release of her first album "O convite". This single, which addresses the issue of domestic violence, was an echo of women facing the social reality of gender-based violence.
In 2010, Iveth released her first album on Cotonete Records, entitled "O convite", with 20 tracks, all originals. It only featured the production and participation of national singers and producers. In the same year (2010), Iveth once again won the award for best national Hip-Hop singer by the Hip-Hop Time programme.
The following year, in 2011, she won the award for "Most Popular Song" at the MMA- Mozambique Music Awards.
In 2012, Iveth was invited by the US State Department to take part in a special programme for Hip-Hop singers in 7 states. The programme was called HipHop and Civic Engagement, and she was the only Mozambican singer to represent Mozambican Hip-Hop in that forum.
Ivete has taken part in various campaigns and social causes as a goodwill ambassador:
- Power in the voice for the British Council (2007);
- Minority Rights - For the NGO Lambda (2014);
- Human rights in Africa - For the NGO CESC (2015);
- No to child marriages - by the NGO Plan International (2015);
- Woman film on gender-based violence - Medicus Mundi (2019);
- UDHR 75 - UN Human Rights (2023).
From 2012-2022 she released several singles such as 4 Estações Remix with Miguel XaBindza, Mc Moçambique with Awayo, Nhandayeyo, Mãe Natal, among other collaborations.
Iveth has been the subject of several studies at university level in Lusophony, such as Atiele Santos' monograph "Women armed with microphones: Iveth and other warriors, the Mozambican experience" (Federal University of São Paulo); Francisco de Mendonça Júnior's scientific article "The Heroine Woman in the fight against patriarchy in Mozambique" (University of Coimbra) and the same author's PhD thesis "Rap and political activism in the Lusophone space:
Case studies in Brazil, Portugal,
Angola and Mozambique, among other studies.
Iveth is characterised by being a MC who spares no effort to show in words what is in her soul and is easily recognisable by the hoarseness of her voice, her intellectual and social approach, a feminine, feminist and feminising style... always performing on stage in skirts to establish her presence as a woman in Hip-Hop! She draws inspiration from the day-to-day life of her country, her people, her mother - and her belief in a better world!
As well as being a hip-hop singer, Iveth is a poet, a law graduate, a university lecturer, a lawyer and a human rights activist.
