Artist: David Kalilani
Album / Mix-tape: The Lost Tapes
Lyricism: 3 / 5
Style of Delivery: 3 / 5
Content: 3 / 5
Musical Production: 3 / 5
Quality: 3 / 5
Arrangement: 1 / 5
Concept: 0 / 5
Originality / Creativity: 2 / 5
“Welcome, welcome/ yup…lemme introduce myself…”, no need for an intro though, he's been around for a long while and yet still no debut album. It's either very astounding that he has been able to grow his public base to such a great crowd without an album, or on the other hand, very wreckless. He's not the only artist out there without an album but yet with a huge following though, Andy Mineo of Reach Records has acheived a similar feat. David's flows unfold a story, enlighten your senses, spark your curiousity, and take you on an imaginary journey with the use of his conversational rap tone through a field of musical production like none other. This is the curtain raiser which he calls “the lost tapes” which precedes the upcoming project: “Exodus: The Preview”. This project provides retrospective into his victories and failures, and an opportunity for the listener to evaluate him and decide for themselves WHAT they see; introspective for the listener to decide WHO they see; and a little perspective into WHERE he might be going with his rap and ministry. David’s mission: “to recruit more soldiers”, does he manage to do so? That’s difficult for me to measure here but does “the lost tapes” prepare you as a “curtain raiser”? Yes it does
However, there was little, or perhaps no recording done intended for this project, it’s a compilation of songs that would never have made it on any of his upcoming work, hence the ZERO score for my "concept" rating - it has no concept, at the end of the day it is just a compilation. It either supports the title of “the lost tapes” very well, OR, it frustrates you with the feeling that you can’t follow the all important thread which helps you keep up with development. It is, however, the best project I have evaluated thus far in the quality department with Q on the boards for some of the songs, but I will speak about this a little later on in the review.
However, there was little, or perhaps no recording done intended for this project, it’s a compilation of songs that would never have made it on any of his upcoming work, hence the ZERO score for my "concept" rating - it has no concept, at the end of the day it is just a compilation. It either supports the title of “the lost tapes” very well, OR, it frustrates you with the feeling that you can’t follow the all important thread which helps you keep up with development. It is, however, the best project I have evaluated thus far in the quality department with Q on the boards for some of the songs, but I will speak about this a little later on in the review.
The opener to the compilation is important as it communicates the priority of the church when it comes to rap gospel. Without the church, rap gospel is all useless. “Shut us down” is a sobering reminder that the church is priority, not the music. In-fact, we can shut the music down but not the church. He wrote this song to celebrate the day his sister got saved at one of his live concerts. “Delilah” was good, but for a Chungu and Gosple collab you would have wanted another concept played out – not to say that the message in Delilah was not important (the temptations from the opposite sex on a man-hunt), but the collab was just too priceless that you wonder what else could have been done had it been different. On the other hand, i was pleasently surprised to learn that the producer for the beat was Chifuniro - showing definite signs of production talent and versatility. “Awesome God” with Marvel gives me goose bumps anytime I hear it; they capture an aspect of God’s awesomeness in the production, lyrics, and delivery. “Jesus” was owned by K.B.G in Chichewa, and then owned by Gosple in English, but perhaps you can forgive David here as the track isn't really his anyways but is off Gosple's album - no excuses though, you would expect David to be much better. David reminds you he is a teacher when he shouts “aint nothing like hip-hop music / be careful whenever you use it”, and in my personal evaluation he should continue to strive for the responsibility to be Malawi’s rap gospel Watchman – one who stands at the gates and serves to protect the integrity, legitimacy and purpose of rap gospel. He’s not the best rapper but he is the most responsible.
Back to the mix, even though it is better than other projects I have reviewed, the quality is inconsistent. Track 7, “Exodus” ft. Tarrita, is low quality; and so is “lonely”, and the audio vocals are not as crisp and are too sharp. However, that is probably because some of these tracks were recorded a long while ago like "Exodus" which was released in 2007, and "Marvel" and "Rebirth" in 2009. For a better understanding of the history behind the tracks check out: http;//www.kifalme.com/index.php?option=article&id=135%3A5%3ADAVID-KALILANI-THE-LOST-TAPES. Kifalme gives a better review on the track-list history than i would.
However, for a compilation project that i paid money for, i would want everything to be top quality. This is not musics first compilation project and it wont be the last, but others of this same type are better mixed and mastered. For example, Nas' "Lost Tapes" (I'll use a secular example), also a compilation project consisting of about 6 Volumes (with maybe the exception of Vol.2, i believe) are all well mixed and mastered. Here is a lesson for all ARTISTS: invest in a good hard-drive, save all your studio project files including projects you decide not to use at the time. When it is time to get mixing you will have all the data there with you to mix and master uniformly. Furthermore, I already had atleast 30-40% of the music that was included in "Lost tapes" in my possession (either released previously as singles or in other projects like Spirit Filled Vol.1 and 2). I would have liked more content to have been "newer", again I say this because I paid money for it.
I suggest: get very excited for “Exodus: the preview”, it promises to boast the best of “lost tapes” without any of what had lacked in it. The singles released so far to the public have already garnered much approval like "the return", and much controversy like "As you grow" ft. Tarrita and Lawi. No other artist's singles are creating as many waves as David's at the moment. On another level, I am a little dissapointed because his next project is in all actual reality still not an album. David calls it a "preview" (and prefers to call it such). He calls it a "preview" so as to not identify himself with the majority of artists who dubb their projects "mix-tapes" because it is a concept much abused and misunderstood. I wait for the day when a hero will come along and break the current "mix-tape culture" which Malawi seems to strive upon. David says this of Exodus: The Preview: "So its a preview, an introduction of me to the world...a preview into my own exodus with the Lord Jesus Christ," (Mvela Magazine Exclusive Interview). I can forgive the fact that it is taking an eternity to drop because I expect it will be ground-breaking - very rarely does David dissapoint. I cannot wait for his project after the preview which is an actual ALBUM: "The Sleeping Giant" - i have had the pleasure of getting a private listen to a single and all i can say is woOoOoOoOow - I cannot say more than that...all i can say is get out there and get "the lost tapes" and get "Exodus: The Preview" when it comes out - it will be well worth it.
Back to the mix, even though it is better than other projects I have reviewed, the quality is inconsistent. Track 7, “Exodus” ft. Tarrita, is low quality; and so is “lonely”, and the audio vocals are not as crisp and are too sharp. However, that is probably because some of these tracks were recorded a long while ago like "Exodus" which was released in 2007, and "Marvel" and "Rebirth" in 2009. For a better understanding of the history behind the tracks check out: http;//www.kifalme.com/index.php?option=article&id=135%3A5%3ADAVID-KALILANI-THE-LOST-TAPES. Kifalme gives a better review on the track-list history than i would.
However, for a compilation project that i paid money for, i would want everything to be top quality. This is not musics first compilation project and it wont be the last, but others of this same type are better mixed and mastered. For example, Nas' "Lost Tapes" (I'll use a secular example), also a compilation project consisting of about 6 Volumes (with maybe the exception of Vol.2, i believe) are all well mixed and mastered. Here is a lesson for all ARTISTS: invest in a good hard-drive, save all your studio project files including projects you decide not to use at the time. When it is time to get mixing you will have all the data there with you to mix and master uniformly. Furthermore, I already had atleast 30-40% of the music that was included in "Lost tapes" in my possession (either released previously as singles or in other projects like Spirit Filled Vol.1 and 2). I would have liked more content to have been "newer", again I say this because I paid money for it.
I suggest: get very excited for “Exodus: the preview”, it promises to boast the best of “lost tapes” without any of what had lacked in it. The singles released so far to the public have already garnered much approval like "the return", and much controversy like "As you grow" ft. Tarrita and Lawi. No other artist's singles are creating as many waves as David's at the moment. On another level, I am a little dissapointed because his next project is in all actual reality still not an album. David calls it a "preview" (and prefers to call it such). He calls it a "preview" so as to not identify himself with the majority of artists who dubb their projects "mix-tapes" because it is a concept much abused and misunderstood. I wait for the day when a hero will come along and break the current "mix-tape culture" which Malawi seems to strive upon. David says this of Exodus: The Preview: "So its a preview, an introduction of me to the world...a preview into my own exodus with the Lord Jesus Christ," (Mvela Magazine Exclusive Interview). I can forgive the fact that it is taking an eternity to drop because I expect it will be ground-breaking - very rarely does David dissapoint. I cannot wait for his project after the preview which is an actual ALBUM: "The Sleeping Giant" - i have had the pleasure of getting a private listen to a single and all i can say is woOoOoOoOow - I cannot say more than that...all i can say is get out there and get "the lost tapes" and get "Exodus: The Preview" when it comes out - it will be well worth it.
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