The voices of sega

An introduction, not a ranking. These listening profiles connect fifteen artists and groups to credited catalogues and documented cultural sources.

Ti Frère

Sega tipikPhoto by Musée de la photographie de l’île Maurice

Ti Frère’s singing is a foundational reference in the recorded history of Mauritian sega. His repertoire survives through releases and archival collections that preserve the character of his voice and its relationship with percussion. The Ocora recordings offer a particularly well-documented introduction, connecting a field recording made in 1989 with editions heard by later generations.

Serge Lebrasse

SegaPhoto by Avinash Meetoo

Serge Lebrasse helped bring sega to records, radio and stages beyond its earlier community settings. Known for Madame Eugène and a long performance career, he also worked as a schoolteacher. His recollections reveal both the pleasure of making music and the social prejudice faced by a teacher who chose to sing in Creole.

Menwar

Ravann and sagaïPhoto by William

Menwar, Stéphano Honoré, is a singer, percussionist and instrument maker whose work places the ravann at the centre of a distinctive musical language. Recording first as Lélou, he developed sagaï through acoustic percussion and encounters with other musical forms. His recorded work and teaching connect inherited craft with deliberate experimentation.

Kaya

SeggaePhoto by Jaxmasca

Kaya, Joseph Réginald Topize, is central to the history of seggae, the Mauritian meeting of sega and reggae. With Racinetatane, he made recordings that brought Creole expression and Rastafari consciousness into a distinctive musical form. His catalogue spans early cassettes, later studio releases and posthumous editions that continue to introduce the music to new listeners.

Cassiya

Modern segaPhoto by Désiré François

Cassiya grew from musical relationships in Cassis, Port Louis, into a group whose songs travelled across the Indian Ocean and beyond. Désiré François’s voice is closely associated with that history, alongside the writers, arrangers and instrumentalists who shaped the recordings. Séparation, released in 1993, remains a documented starting point in the group’s catalogue.

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Fanfan

Sega ravanne

Fanfan, Louis-Gabriel Joseph, brought storytelling, song and ravanne playing together in an account of Mauritian everyday life. His recorded work preserves a distinctive solo voice, while interviews reveal a storyteller concerned with the society around him. The archival history of Séga Ravanne connects recordings made in the late 1990s with later editions.

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Rosemay Nelson

Mauritian song and sega

Rosemay Nelson’s work connects Mauritian singing with the history of socially engaged music. Associated with La Rivyer Tanye and with Soley Ruz, she belongs to a generation for whom Creole song could carry both intimate memory and public argument. Her place in that history also makes women’s participation in the musical movement visible.

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Marie-Josée Clency

Recorded sega

Marie-Josée Clency’s career links the early hotel circuit, recorded sega and the movement of Mauritian musicians between Mauritius and France. Her partnership with Roger Clency produced a shared stage history and repertoire. In interviews, she also describes the obstacles faced by a young woman entering music and her commitment to younger performers.

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Catherine Velienne

Recorded sega

Catherine Velienne is a songwriter and singer whose sega has drawn on women’s work, relationships and the demand for equality. Her early singles connect her with Mauritian recording networks of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Later self-produced work continued that attention to everyday experience, giving her repertoire a strongly personal perspective.

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Josiane Cassambo-Nankoo

Sega tipik and sega lakour

Josiane Cassambo-Nankoo carried sega tipik through the family and courtyard traditions of Petite-Rivière. Her voice is closely associated with Tangale and the Cassambo repertoire. Across performances and family teaching, she helped pass that music to younger generations. She died in June 2026, leaving a musical history that continues through her family and recordings.

Linzy Bacbotte

Sega and contemporary Mauritian songPhoto by Blackberrijack

Linzy Bacbotte’s career moves between sega, reggae, seggae, soul, gospel and musical theatre. Her recordings and performances connect a strong sega repertoire with other vocal settings. Albums such as Sakenn Son Valer and appearances in Kafe Kiltir offer distinct ways into her work, while her stage history includes both concerts and dramatic roles.

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Michel Legris

Sega

Michel Legris’s recorded legacy includes commercial sega and a later effort to document traditional performance with his family. Interviews with the people who recorded and archived him reveal an artist actively concerned with how his music would be preserved. That history gives his songs a context beyond their appearance on modern compilations.

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Marclaine Antoine

Mauritian music and sega

Marclaine Antoine contributed to Mauritian music as an instrumentalist, arranger, composer and keeper of oral knowledge. His interests extended from the familiar sega ensemble to less commonly heard traditional instruments. Through collaborations, cultural work and storytelling, he connected musicians with a wider history of sound and craft. He died in 2017.

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Roger Augustin

Sega

Roger Augustin belongs to the recorded history of Mauritian sega, with a repertoire that includes Séga banané and Qui to lé mo fer. His songs appear in a modern PIROS catalogue edition, while scholarship also examines their view of Mauritian society. Together, those records connect an individual singer with the cultural world his songs describe.

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Claudio Veeraragoo

Modern sega

Claudio Veeraragoo’s sega brings together songwriting, orchestral work and a range of recorded influences. His catalogue includes Bhai Aboo, Bonom Chinois and Qui fine arrivé, with work circulating through singles, albums and later reissues. His musical history connects Mauritian recording with electric guitars, regional influences and the work of his ensembles.