Women’s voices in sega, five artists to listen to

Hear sega across different musical settings

Soul Sok Séga offers a concrete starting point because its licensed recordings connect sega with electric instruments and with funk, soul and jazz. Released by Strut in 2016, the compilation brings together Mauritian recordings associated with the 1970s. The compilation’s release date describes this edition, not the original recording date of every track. Its variety makes it useful for exploring recorded sega beyond a single instrumental format.

A family courtyard provides a different context. Josiane Cassambo-Nankoo’s story is rooted in sega lakour at Petite-Rivière, where repertoire passed through family relationships. Linzy Bacbotte’s documented work, meanwhile, spans several musical forms. Keeping these settings distinct allows a listening selection to include heritage practice and contemporary breadth without treating them as interchangeable, or making one the measure of the others.

Marie-Josée Clency on record and in recognition

For Marie-Josée Clency, begin with La Vie En Badinage in the Soul Sok Séga catalogue. The recording carries the joint credit Marie Josée and Roger Clency. Keeping that credit visible matters even in an article focused on women: it identifies the recording accurately rather than turning a shared credit into a solo one. The licensed catalogue provides a direct streaming and purchase destination for exploring the music.

Her formal recognition is documented separately. The Ministry of Arts and Culture’s report of its 2025 awards names Marie Josée Clency as a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award. Read the two records together: one gives access to a credited recording, while the other establishes official recognition. For a listening exercise, return to the track after reading the award record and concentrate on the performance itself rather than allowing the distinction to prescribe your response.

Catherine Velienne as a singer and songwriter

Catherine Velienne’s Mo Mari Fini Allé provides another specific entry into Soul Sok Séga. Listening to it alongside La Vie En Badinage keeps the compilation constant while changing the credited performer. As an exercise, consider what draws your attention to each voice and how the surrounding arrangement affects that attention. There is no need to declare a winner for the comparison to sharpen your listening.

Velienne also appears in Le Mauricien’s December 2019 interview with established practitioners about modern sega. She discusses songwriting, originality and qualities she values in newer performers. This adds an artist’s perspective to the recorded voice: musical change involves decisions about writing and performance, not simply a switch of instruments. Her comments belong to that dated conversation and represent her perspective, rather than an objective ranking or a complete account of her views today.

Josiane Cassambo-Nankoo and the family repertoire

Josiane Cassambo-Nankoo carried sega tipik through the family and courtyard traditions of Petite-Rivière. The Cassambo family’s evenings provide a documented setting for sega dan lakour, with repertoire and performance knowledge embedded in family life. Her contribution therefore includes teaching and transmission, not only appearances that might be counted in a commercial concert history.

Tangale became closely associated with her voice and was subsequently taken up by other singers, including Linzy Bacbotte. That connection offers a useful way into the repertoire: follow a song across performers while retaining the earlier singer’s place in its history. A later interpretation can become an entry point into a family tradition rather than replace it.

Cassambo-Nankoo died on 10 June 2026. L’Express’s tribute draws on recollections from Pierre Argo and Alain Muneean to place her work within family practice and intergenerational transmission. Those relationships are central to understanding what her musical contribution involved.

Linzy Bacbotte across musical forms

Kafe Kiltir Moris places Linzy Bacbotte’s work across sega, reggae, seggae, soul and gospel. Its artist page documents her participation in recorded seasons, supplies an album catalogue and offers an authorised performance route. This makes it a practical starting point for exploring her singing without reducing her work to a single genre label.

That breadth changes how to approach the page. Choose a performance, retain its title and credit, and distinguish the description of that performance from the broader description of the artist. A singer’s contribution to sega does not make every recording sega tipik; reggae and seggae should not be collapsed into that category either. Bacbotte’s connection with Tangale is particularly useful here because it lets listeners consider inherited repertoire alongside a career documented across several musical forms.

Rosemay Nelson and socially engaged song

Rosemay Nelson connects this selection with sante angaze, socially engaged Mauritian song. Gitanjali Pyndiah’s research identifies Nelson and Micheline Virahsawmy as central women in Soley Ruz, alongside musicians including Bam Cuttayen, Nitish and Ram Joganah, and Lélou Menwar. The collective brought together Creole and Indo-Mauritian participants through their shared use of Mauritian Creole.

The musical relationships predate that collective. In a 2016 interview, Micheline Virahsawmy recalls Features of Life, an earlier group that included her sister Rosemay and Rosemay’s husband. She remembers performances at venues including Curepipe’s town hall. Family networks, public performance and cultural engagement belong together in this account.

MASA separately associates Nelson with her interpretation of La Rivyer Tanye. That song provides a named starting point for exploring her voice. Read it alongside the Soley Ruz history to see the breadth of her documented contribution, from a remembered lullaby to a collective engaged in public expression. These contexts are more useful than treating women’s participation as a single musical style.

Follow the repertoire beyond an individual recording

The Cassambo story provides a next step beyond collecting individual tracks. Le Mauricien’s June 2026 tribute describes the younger Zenerasion Cassambo on stage and identifies family members continuing the tradition. Recollections published by L’Express also connect the family with the Zenfan Ti Rivière recording and cultural travel abroad. Together, these accounts show a courtyard practice extending into recordings and public representation while remaining grounded in a particular family and place.

Build your listening notes around those connections. Alongside each performer, record the song title, the credited collaborators and any documented family or repertoire link. Start with the two Soul Sok Séga selections, move to Bacbotte’s authorised performances, and use the Cassambo accounts to explore transmission. This approach gives you something more useful than a league table: a growing map of voices, songs and relationships that can guide the next listening session.

Common questions