Blacks ‘Kuimba 10’ promo songs under microscope
Chileka based reggae group Black Missionaries on Monday finally released four promotional songs which are part of their Kuimba 10 album to be launched later this year.
The songs which started playing on Monday in some of the local radio stations have already started attracting comments from people with others welcoming the songs while some have completely written off the tracks.
Some people writing on the social media on Monday said the group is losing its grip having sampled the promo songs and others demanded that they withdraw the tracks and rework on them.
“If you listen to the songs you get the picture that the group is losing its stand. These songs to me cannot be attached to the Black Missionaries I know and if they do take criticism then the best is for them to take them back and refine them,” said one fan.
But others have a different view saying it is too early to rule the songs out.
“You can’t judge a song by just listening to it for a day. The problem with many Malawians is that they do not listen to songs with that artistic eye, all they look for is whether the songs will make them dance. Songs are not meant for that. To me they have done their best and the instrumentation is just good,” said Ramsey Chisale.
He also added that Malawians can only judge better the package of the album when all the songs are out.
“Sometimes artists tend to be clever by putting promo songs which are not that powerful and then you have good songs following up,” said Chisale.
With the group having a rich brand which was created by late Evison Matafale, many Malawians would want the best from Black Missionaries which has stamped its authority and pulls huge audiences during live performances.
The group has in the past years used producer Ralph Ching’amba through his Ralph Records but in Kuimba 10 they have skipped him utilising drummer and producer Amos Mlolowa through his Active A Studio in Blantyre.
This is the same studio where musician Lucius Banda has recorded songs for his latest Thank You album.
The promo songs which have been released are ‘Sikwathu,’ ‘Tizingocheza,’ ‘Muzaweluze,’ and ‘Sindingakwanitse.’
Unlike the other songs which are completely new, ‘Tizingocheza,’ which is a love track is not that new as the group has been performing it during their live acts but they have been playing it using free style.
It seems love songs are a brand now for the group as having dished songs like ‘Dalo’ in the previous albums; they also have offered ‘Sindingakwanitse.’
In ‘Mudzaweluze,’ the group delves into the issues facing the world today from corruption to lack of love and truth and even goes further to speak on the issue of albino killings.
It is all the same in the song ‘Sikwathu,’ which comes in form of a dream where late Matafale, Gift Fumulani and Musamaude are brought into the picture speaking on the ills of the world.
Mlolowa, who is also a member of Mafilika Band heaped praise on the group saying they have done a good job on the album.
“To me I would say it’s a good album and I enjoyed working on it. It’s not that because I worked on the album but to me as a producer the group has done well,” said Mlolowa.
Anjiru, once again spearheads all the songs with his voice standing out. The instrumentation has been well done in the songs with some fine conscious reggae but probably what lacks is the lyrical content as compared to the previous albums.
“We are happy with this album and we hope people will love the songs therein. We have taken our time,” he said.
The Blacks is made up of Anjiru and Yanjani Chumbu as lead vocalists, Chizondi Fumulani and Gift Thugo on keyboards, Peter Amidu on bass guitar and Takudziwani and Paul Chokani on lead guitar and drums respectively.
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