When you're listening to Thomas Mapfumo you're listening to one of the great African pop musicians. He's a Bob Marley of sorts in his native Zimbabwe; that is, a politically minded, quasi-iconic figure whose music endorses freedom and cultural identity. Mapfumo was a key figure in Zimbabwe's struggle for independence from Rhodesia in the 1970's when he created a style of music he dubbed Chimuranga ("war of liberation"), which combines traditional sacred mbira music with elements of jit, African jazz, swing, soul and rumba. Chimurenga '98 is essentially a State-of-the-Struggle address. While Zimbabwe is now autonomous, Mapfumo continues to decry government corruption and cultural decay. The songs on '98 range in tone from the politically-charged "Chimurenga" and "Munongotukana" to the more rootsy "Tinofara" and "Titambire". "Set the People Free", the only song with English lyrics, has a strong reggae feel to it and reminds me of Peter Tosh. Most of Mapfumo's songs begin with a short melodic introduction, then settle into a groove where repetitive guitar figures flit above mixed percussion. Punctuation comes from a chorus of backup singers as well as a sparse sprinkling of brass hits. The most distinctive feature of Mapfumo's music is his voice, a subtle, nuanced baritone that speaks at once of joy and pain, of hope and despair. When he sings you can hear his country's (and his culture's) soul.