At 92, Giddes Chalamanda has no idea what TikTok is. He does not even own a smartphone. And yet the Malawian music legend has become a social media star, with his song Linny Hoo garnering more than 80 million views on the video-sharing platform, and spawning mashups and remixes from South Africa to the Philippines.
“They come and show me the videos on their phones, but I have no idea how it works,” Chalamanda told reporters at his home in Madzuwa on the edge of a macadamia plantation, about 20km from Malawi’s main city, Blantyre.
However, “I love the fact that people