Monday, 12 November 2012

Zambia's Pompi - Is He Any Good For Africa?

                Good music is like a good African meal. The fungo from the spices, the red-orange colors in the msuzi, the textures, the flavors, and the consistency. Think of the nsima as the songwriters lyrics – this is the main dish and preferably the nsima has no lumps. Think of the nyama as the beat and each cut of beef are the instruments; the nyama compliments the nsima. Think of the msuzi as the vocals: the alto, soprano, bass, and tenor. The msuzi doesn’t run and it doesn’t stick. You also need masamba: boiled just right – that’s the quality in the mix and master that ensures that the beat and the vocals blend effortlessly into…POMPI!
                Chaka “Pompi” Nyathando is making waves in his country and the ripples are being felt here in Malawi. He has topped the itsretunes chart recently (please check out http://www.itsretunes.com), and I am sure he is topping other charts also. I first heard of him in “Chipolopolo” which was an ode to the Zambian football team that won the Africa Cup of nations. More precisely I watched the video but I took no notice of him because he disappeared thereafter only to re-emerge with a new single titled “Packaging” (a song that expresses that the “quality” is inside the package and not the package itself). Whether or not he released other singles between the two is something I do not know. Packaging, however, was not enough to turn my attention. Certainly a very mature song with great creative direction but I think if someone seeks to make their presence known then you do it with a sucker punch of a song that completely takes everyone by surprise. Packaging lacked a certain “sting” in its punch; it was too mellow for me. But I did notice that the response around me was mixed: others felt the way I did, but the majority absolutely loved it and couldn’t stop talking about it. After this he released two more tracks: “No rent” and “Giant killer” off his up-coming album “Mizu” (drops 8 December 2012) and that’s when my ears perked up (go to http://www.soundcloud.com/pompi to get free downloads of these tracks). These two singles that follow up Packaging are the right and left uppercut on my chin that I was waiting for. Giant killer had a reggae flavor to it with an atmosphere of spiritual assurance that in God you are an over-comer or more than a conqueror. With lyrics like “Cool, calm, collected, standing in-front of a charging army/ooh yes I reckon 007 got nothing on me” and “Paliponse posanka ndeu ungasankhe ine?” had me feeling strong in God indeed. His other single “No rent” featuring Magg 44 is for the love birds. I absolutely loved the mood. and Magg 44’s rap stayed true to the easy flow of the track. I think Pompi’s lyrics somewhere had referred to the girl as a “chithumbuwa” so you understand that the song is also supposed to be charming in its humor. For a more in-depth review into the two singles please see kifalme’s website which helped excite me for Pompi (check out http://www.kifalme.com).
                Chichewa is very similar to Zambia’s Bemba and more so with Nyanja so people here have the luxury of understanding much of what Pompi raps and sings in his songs. Although I do believe that even with a language barrier listeners would still love the feel of the music. Kifalme writes in his blog that Kenya is dancing to Pompi’s music even though they do not understand some of the words that he is saying. I honestly believe the world over is ready to embrace, and are already embracing music that isn’t in their own language. I encourage Malawian artists to embrace their mother tongues, there is no approved formula that your music will go international if you sing or rap exclusively in English, especially if you are not comfortable with it. Concerning Pompi’s content, in Malawi's perspective many will feel as though it is not easily identifiable as “Christian”. Which is not wrong per se, it is just where our contemporary urban gospel music roots are laid: we are a didactic type oriented people (albeit the music scene continues to transform with new and exciting ways of expressing the Good News in music). In-fact, Geo Musiwa writes and I agree: “Many tend to criticize and protest that Pompi’s message is not the “Gospel”. I find it necessary to object such thinking because I believe it is not mandated for every Christian music artist to be an evangelistic preacher “in your face”. Are not some teachers and others encouragers?” (Please check out http://www.geomusiwa.wordpress.com). I have found that his music is Christ influenced, very encouraging, and I am able to enjoy it as Gospel music through and through. I am afraid that his album might be thoroughly mellow and therefore monotonous. Pompi has found himself musically as a “low-note” singer and seems to favor laid back instrumentation. If the album is thoroughly mellow it might be “boring”, but if he mixed it up as he did with singles like Giant killer and used features like he did with Magg 44 then we are all in for a great time. I want Malawi to get excited for Pompi’s project and for Africa to become united musically. I want to see our music spread across the continent and one of the first steps towards that is to embrace the rest of Africa’s music.

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