Gemma Griffiths Had An Outstanding Year

Gemma Griffiths

By Panashe Siziba

Gemma had an outstanding 2023 with a couple of good features and solo tracks, Gemma managed to feature on Baba Harare's recent project Prove them wrong that has been rated as one of the best albums so far this year

The geographical location of a musician can mould the sound of the music and the feeling it gives. That is at the heart of Gemma Griffiths‘ music. The singer/songwriter was born in Cape Town, raised in Zimbabwe and studied in America. Her nomadic experiences have bled into her artistry, giving space for a rich and diverse soundscape.

Griffiths grew up in a family of musicians. Her maternal grandmother is a pianist, her paternal grandfather plays the clarinet and her mother is a music teacher. She started playing instruments at the age of four and by the age of six, she began performing.

Her early musical idols include ground-breaking artists like Oliver Mtukudzi, Chiwoniso Maraire, Bob Nyabinde, and Winky D, and when she was in high school, she developed a deep love for dance hall music.

Dedicated to pursuing music, she attended the Snow College in Utah to study Commercial Music and Jazz with a focus on the piano and trumpet.

Her time there exposed her to musical heavyweights like Aretha Franklin, Nora Jones, and Billie Holiday which would influence how she approaches vocal production. Griffiths shares:

I think that where you are, geographically does play a role in the music you make. I do believe that you are influenced by the sounds you’re hearing. Growing up in Zimbabwe, my parents took me to listen to Oliver Mtukudzi and all these incredible artists and I heard them around the house so much that it carried through and raised me. As I started traveling, I felt the [different] sounds and so I think that had translated into an amalgamation of genres and the sound that I now have.