|
|
|
|
| Entertainment |
| People do not appreciate good music -Sally Nyundo |
|
by
Nation Reporter, 02 May 2006
-
08:04:03
|
There are a few artists on the local scene that can persevere as much as reggae artist Sally Nyundo.
Many will remember him for the somewhat comic hits Ras Amadya Nzimbe and Kukuchedwa Kucha, but Sally’s exploits hover beyond these recent hits.
Sally kick-started his career playing for Ndirande-based Imagez Band way back in 1994, some of whose other products are husky-voiced honjo star San B, Fuggie Kasipa and reggae star Diwa.
It was during his stint with Imagez that Sally teamed up with Diwa to record the collaboration Namwali, which contained the hit Chule Chule.
Together with Diwa, Sally left Imagez in 2000 on a sojourn to Lilongwe, where they joined House of Lions upon inception. A year later, the group won the inaugural National Music Trophy but Sally was soon coaxed back to Blantyre to join Ben Michael’s Zigzaggers Band. Despite his success with the Zigzaggers, who have won the Music Trophy for five years running, Sally quit the group last year and is currently performing with the Black Missionaries.
Despite clinging on to a reggae genre that does not seem to appeal to the local audience, Sally has made remarkable strides, having travelled to France’s Reunion Islands two years ago where he performed alongside leading reggae group Israel Vibrations. He recently travelled back to the Reunion Islands to record his third solo album Nyasa Reggae Revolution.
Sally says DJs are partly to blame for sidelining reggae music.
“Reggae in Malawi?” he asks, seemingly bemused by it all, and continues: “People do not appreciate good quality music. Music that is being promoted by DJs is all bubble-gum music and they [DJs] are distorting people’s minds, giving the impression that the music that some of us play is not good.”
He urges radio DJs to play more local music.
“If I was a DJ, I would play local music when people phone in during request shows and ask for R&B; music or reggae because we have our own music. They [DJs] even promote Zambian music, yet our music quality is better than Zambian music,” he says, and laments further: “What sells music in Malawi is not how good it is but it depends on whether you are connected to the music distributors.”
But Sally is quick to acknowledge that artists too have to play their part.
“We too should also play good music and not always rush to blame the distributors, they are in business and they want to make profits so they will only buy music that is good.
“Some artists are duplicates of the originals, they want to take after Anne Matumbi, Lucius Banda or Joseph Nkasa, but you can’t be an artist on somebody’s name,” he says.
He charges that another factor hampering the progress of the Malawian musician is that they are not sure of themselves.
“Artists are scared, they are not sure that they can be artists in their own right, they are scared of standing alone. We always wait for someone to sponsor us, yet we can do some of these things on our own,” he says.
Sally has recently compiled a two-in-one CD collection of some of his best songs from the last two albums Bimbi Overstanding and Nyimbo.
“Many people thought that some of the songs were singles so I decided to compile them into an album. I have also included Usandipatse Busy which is a bonus track that I had previously released as a single,” he says.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
