Willow Smith spotlights Zimbabwean music legend in Pigeons & Planes interview

The American singer and cultural figure Willow Smith has used a recent interview with the music discovery platform Pigeons & Planes to put the spotlight on a Zimbabwean music legend, according to Briefly News. The recommendation has drawn renewed attention to southern Africa’s rich and often underexposed musical heritage in international pop conversations.

Pigeons & Planes, a long-running outlet now part of the Complex media network, has built its reputation on surfacing overlooked artists and tracks to a global audience. Smith, who first rose to prominence as a teenager with the 2010 single “Whip My Hair,” has since developed a genre-fluid musical identity spanning pop, rock, metal and alternative R&B. Her listening habits and personal recommendations have long been tracked closely by fans and critics alike, giving her endorsements a particular cultural reach.

Zimbabwe’s musical legacy

Zimbabwe has produced a remarkable lineage of musicians whose work has resonated well beyond its borders. Among the most prominent figures is Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, a singer-songwriter and guitarist whose career spanned more than four decades and who became known for blending chimurenga, jit and soukous into a distinctive sound. Thomas Mapfumo is widely credited with pioneering chimurenga music, which became a soundtrack to the country’s liberation struggle. Mbira master Stella Chiweshe, who helped bring the traditional thumb piano to international audiences, also remains an influential name. Together, these artists and others have shaped a musical tradition valued for its lyrical depth, social commentary and guitar-driven sound.

When globally recognised artists with large platforms name-check Zimbabwean music, it can offer a meaningful boost to veteran performers and to the country’s wider cultural visibility. Smith’s recommendation, as Briefly News reported, fits into a broader pattern in which younger Western musicians increasingly draw from African musical traditions, helping carry them to listeners who might otherwise never encounter them. The full Pigeons & Planes interview is available on the platform’s website.

Sources

This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.

• Briefly News — Willow Smith recommends Zimbabwe legend's song in 'Pigeons & Planes' interview