Votia

It's a family affair. And carrying forward the legacy of Maloya music to inspire future generations is the family business. Votia are led by the powerful voice of Marie-Claude Philéas Lambert, the daughter of Granmoun Lélé, one of the great masters of Maloya's resurgence after the French authorities' attempt to outlaw it in the 1970s. Her mother came from a well-known Malagasy musical family. Growing up with these traditions in her blood and after her experiences touring with her father until his passing in 2004, Marie-Claude has gathered her own family around her – husband, children and friends – to form Votia, singing her own compositions in Malagasy and Creole, replete with the polyphonous harmony singing and chanting, dynamic poly-rhythmic percussion and the echoes of Indian and African influences that make up this unique Reunionese expression. The new single “Dinibé” speaks of the daily life of the workers in the fields, the hard work and the music, inseparable from it, that accompanied and motivated them during their hard work, and made them, at least, proud of their culture.   “Dinibé” is the first single from the new album “Vie Kaz” that will be out worldwide in spring 2025.