Qabaniso Malewezi
Qabaniso Malewezi, also known as Q, (born 1979) is a Malawian musician and poet. A former producer for the hip-hop band Real Elements, he has since authored several collections of poems including the audio collection "People". In 2015 he received an honorary doctorate from Mzuzu University. Biography. The son of Justin Malewezi, a former vice-president of Malawi, Malewezi grew up in Lilongwe. He became interested in music at an early age, learned to play the guitar, and performed and recorded music during his youth. As an adult, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he studied  performing arts at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts and the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey. While in the United Kingdom, Malewezi became the producer for the group Real Elements, which performed hip-hop and became popular in Malawi and several other countries. They were active from the late 1990s to the first part of the 2000s. In 2004, Malewezi temporarily returned to Malawi to be with his father, who campaigned unsuccessfully for the presidency of Malawi that year. After a short return to the UK, Malewezi returned again to Malawi in 2005. Poetry. Malewezi's first poetry  collection, "The Road Taken", was published in 2011. The book was edited by Pascal Kishindo, and included photos by the author, Justin Malewezi Jr., and graphic designer Fred Coelho. Poems from the book have been included in several writing courses. In 2013, Malewezi published his second poetry collection, "Little Discoveries", written in English, and in 2016 he published the audio poetry collection "People". At its launch, Malewezi performed his poem "Wikipedia". Malewezi has been featured on CNN's African Voices, BBC World, and The Travel Channel. In 2015, he received an honorary doctorate from Mzuzu University in recognition of his  contribution to the arts.