But when the country is Zimbabwe and it’s led by controversial President Robert Mugabe — and the band is one of South Africa’s hottest Afropop outfits — it may not be such a bad thing.
In 2010, South African group Freshlyground released its single “Chicken to Change,” a buoyant song that mocked Mugabe — and quickly climbed the world-music charts. Its accompanying music video racked up more than 130,000 YouTube hits.
The seven-member band makes its Boston debut Monday at Brighton Music Hall, and they’ll no doubt perform that song, plus others from their latest CD, “Radio Africa.”
“We wrote ‘Chicken to Change’ because we had been witnessing a growing optimism in Zimbabwe with a feeling that change was in the air,” said Simon Attwell, the band’s sax, flute and mbira player, and a native of Zimbabwe. “And when it became clear that that wasn’t the case, we were moved to do something. We describe it as a spoof, but underlying it was a serious message.”
Needless to say, Mugabe and his government were not too happy that the satirical song and video (replete with a cartoonish puppet of the president) became so popular. Freshlyground was set to perform in Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare last fall when its members found out that they wouldn’t be allowed into the country.
But the group’s funky rock-meets-Cape Town grooves continues to spread outside Zimbabwe, with the group catching on in Southern Africa, Europe and the United States. Last summer, Freshlyground accompanied Latin pop star Shakira on “Waka Waka” (“This Time for Africa”) in the World Cup opening ceremony concert in Soweto.
“There was some backlash in Africa because the World Cup was being held in South Africa and people couldn’t understand why Shakira, who’s from Colombia, was singing the song instead of an African artist,” Attwell said by phone from New York. “Initially, we thought that might not be too good for us, but sentiment eventually shifted and it was embraced.”
But there have been snags. The band’s catchy sound fuses styles as disparate as reggae, Zulu folk music and township jive. Their lyrics make use of nearly a dozen languages. It can make for a hard sell outside South Africa.
“It works really well for us back home where we’re a household name because what we do touches so many musical styles and crosses over into so many cultures,” Attwell said of the group, which includes players of varying ages from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. “Internationally it can be a little bit problematic because people, including record companies and presenters, don’t really know if we’re pop or world. But we just keep doing our thing and following what has been a winning formula for us — just getting out and playing.”
Freshlyground, with Zili Misik, at Brighton Music Hall, Monday. Tickets: $20, $25 at the door; 617-779-0140.
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