Hazel Mak is releasing her new album, No Water No Flowers, exclusively on Vwaza Music. At the same time, she joins Vwaza as our brand ambassador in the United Kingdom.
An AFRIMA-winning artist, UK-based and Malawian, has chosen to put a new record on an African platform instead of the majors. As far as we know, that has not happened before at this level. It is the biggest artist moment Vwaza has had, and we did not have to outbid anyone for it. She chose it.
The album
No Water No Flowers, and the singles released from it, will be available on Vwaza Music and nowhere else. Not Spotify, not Apple Music, not YouTube.
The exclusivity is hers, not ours. It covers only this album and its singles. Her back catalog stays exactly where it is, on every platform it is on today, and nothing in this arrangement touches it.
When you buy the album on Vwaza, you own it. It downloads, it plays offline, and it stays in your library. Hazel keeps her audience, keeps her rights, sets her own terms, and is paid directly. The full commercial details are on vwaza.com.
We'll announce the release date separately once mastering is complete.
Why the title does the work
Nothing blooms unwatered. Not a garden, not a career.
An artist's career needs more than passive attention to survive, and streaming is a trickle. Buying a record directly from the artist is water. The flowers are what everyone gets to enjoy afterward.
That is the whole argument Vwaza has been making since we started, and Hazel found a better way to say it than we ever did.
Hazel Mak, Vwaza's UK brand ambassador
Separately from the album, Hazel becomes Vwaza's brand ambassador in the United Kingdom, beginning in Manchester and extending to London. France follows for named events, starting with Fete de la Musique in June 2027. From 2027, the direction reverses, and diaspora artists come to perform in Malawi and the wider region.
The centerpiece is an intimate live series for African music. Small rooms, sometimes unannounced: the format that suits a voice like hers. Artists are invited by uploading their music to Vwaza, which means an artist in Blantyre and an artist in Manchester are invited the same way.
The audience is the point. Malawian artists brought to the UK have historically performed to Malawian rooms, which defeats the exercise. These events are built for rooms that have never heard the music before, in a city that turns up for what it does not already know.
Hazel will also introduce UK-based African artists to the platform, host the events when she is not performing, and carry Vwaza into UK rooms where an African platform has had no presence at all.
Tickets for events under this partnership will be sold in the Vwaza app.
February in Malawi
Hazel travels to Malawi in February 2027. The cycle includes live performance, a recorded acoustic session carried on Vwaza TV, and a panel on the business of the creative industry, which is the part we care most about. Structured business education for creatives is a gap nobody in this market addresses, and we would rather be in the room for it than talk about it.
Details and dates for the February cycle will follow, but for now, listen to her catalog on Vwaza, from Liyaya, Serenade and the Bring Me Flowers jazz remix to her most recent single, Hunni.
What this means for artists
Every argument Vwaza has made about releasing direct has, until now, been made by us. This one comes from an artist who had every other option available and picked this one anyway.
If you are an artist reading this: the route Hazel took is open to you. Upload through Vwaza Studio, set your own terms, and keep your relationship with the people who listen to you.
Power to the people.
Follow
Follow Hazel Mak on Instagram @hazelmakmusic.
Follow Vwaza Music on Instagram @vwazamusic.