Masauko Chipembere: Podcast Editor & Co-Producer
Masauko is a Malawian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist producer and engineer. With over two decades of experience performing on the world stage and collaborating with notable artists, creatives and humanitarians on various projects, Masauko’s career is emblematic of Pan African consciousness, resilience and love of community.
As a multi-instrumentalist and producer, Masauko has worked as a guitarist with RZA and Tekitha from the renowned Hip Hop ensemble Wu-Tang Clan. Masauko has also produced songs for Ladybug Mecca and toured with Digable Planets. As an audiovisual technician at the Brooklyn Museum of Art for eight years, he was a sound engineer for performances by Randy Weston, Gloria Steinem, Jay-Z and Charlie Rose.
As a musician, Masauko has performed at concerts and charity events for dignitaries, including President Nelson Mandela, and alongside fellow artists Annie Lennox, members of the band Queen and Will Smith, to name a few. Masauko is also part of the popular South African duo, Blk Sonshine. The Duo produced two albums with Supertramp’s engineer/producer Russel Pope and currently working on a third. As a solo artist, Masauko produced his debut album Masauko with Daryl Chonka with the support of the Guayaki Yerba Mate Company.
Always interested in connecting his humanitarian passions with his creative pursuits, Masauko’s work with Guayaki Yerba Mate Company introduced him to the permaculture movement. In 2019, Masauko established a project called Permaculture and Music to introduce farmers in remote villages in Malawi to new farming practices. In 2022, Masauko received a certificate of recognition from the Mayor Victor Gordo of Pasadena, California and the Pasadena UNA for his activism and contributions worldwide through music.
In addition to collaborating with Dr. Yndia Lorick-Wilmot as editor and co-producer of the award-winning podcast, Belonging to Blackness, LLC (formerly Talking Journeys of Belonging 2 Blackness), Masauko continues to perform globally and in support of civic and social causes across the Diaspora. In 2023, he began working with Epsy Campbell Barr, former Vice President of Costa Rica and the current President of the UN Permanent Forum of People of African Descent. Recently, Masauko performed at the Concert Against Racism in Cahuita, Costa Rica and the 2nd Concert Against Racism in support of Black Women in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, which Barr organized.