Mankhokwe...

The song that placed DNA on a pedestal, Mukandipepesele , was not – at least in gender relations – ambivalent. It was clear. It was a song that portrayed the world of men: a world in which they make mistakes that leave a trail of hurt – unintentionally; and, thereafter, they seek to make things right – with little success most times.   Now, he has returned. This time, his album is called Dziko la amuna . In recent years, an album has never been ambiguous as the 13 track album that DNA has released. The literal translation of Dziko la amuna is twofold: one, it is a world for males; two, like in the song that introduced him on the local music scene, it is a world of males – that invisible yet occupied space. In the song that introduces the album, Odala , there is little that relates to the album title. It is, however, in the second song that DNA takes his audience through the world of males. A world in which value is based on the monetary possessions of a man. Not his inten...

The Giddes Chalamanda you meet in the early hours of a Monday, seated on one of the couches of Scallas Café, is not the same one you saw moments ago on the stage. For now, on this couch, Giddes is that octogenarian. With a face that presents him as one nursing the worries or the pleasures of old age. He is – if his face can be used as a mirror into his soul – lost in a world of his own. As a few besotted fans come, sit next him, for a selfie, he can neither smile nor frown into the camera. He just exists in his space. The young fans are invaders. Neither unwelcome nor welcome. The look on his face communicates none of that.  Yet, minutes before – in the late hours of 16 December, a Sunday – Giddes had forgotten himself on stage. But, forgotten is not the word. Remembered must be. The time he walked on stage, welcomed by Davis Njobvu of the Edgar and Davis Band, Giddess had remembered himself. His passion.  It had been a long night. The promise of Giddes Chal...

Five, let us say seven, songs in Lawi’s latest release, Sunset in the sky, are not just laced with poetry. They are delivered in varying fusions, resonating natural sounds, a kind and careful tone, yet beyond – or perhaps underneath – that eclecticism comes a huge theme in modern literature: poverty-porn. When I met with Lawi, on a drizzling evening last year where he had come with that simplicity of a commoner yet the mind of an artist who understands his trade, I charged that he has metamorphosed into an artist who celebrates poverty. I was, in a way, echoing an opinion long highlighted by the University of Malawi academic, Emmanuel Ngwira, who writing on Lawi’s previous release specifically singled out Life is beautiful as a celebration of a distant life. A ‘poverty porn’ of sort. “It is not a celebration of poverty per se,” Lawi argued. Thereafter, he went into a sermon:   on happiness – almost philosophical and intellectual in its packaging. Yet, in brief, he wa...

Have you ever heard of Neil and the New Vibration? Maybe yes, most likely not. But, you needed to have heard of them. For the record, this post is about music. Malawian music. In this case, Malawian music is really a loose term stretching from songs done in Malawi, by Malawians or people who have some sort of affinity – no matter how loose – to Malawi. It is, in a way, as I wish. And, I do not say that to sound dictatorial. There is a song, Chemwali , by Neil and the New Vibration. It is from the album, Made in Malawi . The places that I patronise, the people that I talk music with, have neither played nor told me about the song. They have not told me about Neil nor the New Vibration. I chanced on their music not long ago. I just went on the internet to look up Malawian music. There, they came. I played Chemwali , I was awestruck. You should listen to the song. You should pay a particular attention to the Malawian-sounding guitar in the song. There is a sadness in the ...

I write this because I love music. Malawian music. If MUMA is yet to be in the news for wrong reasons; well, you can expect them to be soon. Have you seen their nominations, most of them? It is the same old jazz. The same thing of saying 'vote for the latest best song' and on the options you have four tracks released in 1990 and one really 'latest' one, released in 1999. But, that is Musicians Association of Malawi for you - and their awards. Somehow, I think we are safer when we call them rewards. Musicians Association of Malawi, or to be politically correct: Musicians Union of Malawi, is rewarding the people it likes and, to make the process legitimate or appearing so, it is soliciting votes from a confused few to endorse one of the options which, realistically speaking, are no options. There certainly is no logic in asking me to select the Capital City of Malawi from the options of Karonga, Phalombe and Ntchisi. There is no answer and, sadly, in some of the c...

If Lucius Banda, the musician cum politician (or the other way round), were to be releasing two albums every year since embarking on his musical journey then by the end of this year, Malawi could have boasted of a musician with forty albums appended to his name. If he were to release one each year, as the practice is amongst many local musicians, his name could have been associated with twenty albums. However, the path of Lucius Banda has been marked with some wide gorges and deformed by some deep gullies that by now, he boasts of seventeen albums to his credit. It is a rare feat still – yet to be beaten by another person in Malawi. When he first appeared on the scene in 1994, two decades ago, Lucius Banda – before he had gotten the badge of soldier on the lapel of the jacket of his name – he was considered simply as a revolutionary musician. An angry politician, probably, using music to advance his agenda: an anger against the falling Malawi Congress Party. Little...