The Sunday Mail
Leisure Reporters
EVER since fully establishing himself as a force to reckon with on the local music scene a few years ago, Jah Prayzah has been growing from strength to strength, dazzling crowds everywhere he performs.
Jah Prayzah performs at Miombo Magic Music Festival
However, a segment of the market he had not tapped into was the white community, which has belonged to the likes of Tuku, Mokoomba and Hope Masike, just to name a few.
Many always wondered how Musoja, as he is fondly called by his fans, would fare when he got an opportunity to perform for this crowd.
Now, picture this; internationally acclaimed band Mokoomba has just dazzled a multi-racial crowd at a festival. Everyone has been dancing, they are tired and would not complain if they are asked to retire to their homes. After all, they have just enjoyed a five-star performance.
In comes Jah Prayzah, not big in the white community, and those who know him hold their breaths. They are not sure whether he will deliver and steal the festival-goers’ hearts.
But as soon as he walks onto the stage donning his trademark army fatigues, music lovers are blown away.
This was by no means an easy task for Jah Prayzah who was debuting at Miombo Magic Music Festival as the last act of the festival after a scintillating act from multi-award winning group Mokoomba.
The latter had set the bar very high and it was seemingly impossible for Jah Prayzah to match or even surpass their standard. But the “Eriza” hit-maker had it all figured out.
For starters, his military gear got this unique audience captivated as they wondered what musical gifts lay beneath the army uniform so even before his performance commenced, he had grabbed the crowd’s attention.
When it was show time, Jah Prayzah did not disappoint. His massive presence on stage got the white ladies screaming. His fusion of traditional instruments such as the mbira, hosho and marimba together with conventional ones like the saxophone, keyboard and guitars made his act stand out from the 344 other acts that the festival-goers had watched since the start of the festival three days earlier.
Dropping hit tracks “Eriza”, “Jerusarema”, “Mwanasikana”, “Chinamira” and “Hello”; Jah Prayzah whipped the crowd into a frenzy. It was ecstatic. Unreleased tracks such as “Goto” and “Hossana” off his forthcoming album “Mudhara Achauya” were also warmly received by the fans.
“Jah Prayzah was amazing,” said festival director, Gus Le Briepon, “When you have a festival crowd where everyone is relaxed and happy and suddenly this guy jumps on stage in military uniform, you really get to wonder what is about to happen. Then they start jumping around on the stage and you see everyone in the crowd getting up and dancing along, you know you watching a great artiste.”
He added: “No doubt he has all the ingredients to be a successful artiste on the global stage but there are some elements he really needs to modify to get the appeal of an international audience. For instance, we all know what his military regalia means locally but it might be difficult for others outside our context to comprehend that. I believe there is need for transformation in such areas if he is to get the attention of international audiences. But, he really has got what it takes to make it big.”
But, is Jah Prayzah cut out for an international audience?
Music Crossroads director, Melody Zambuko believes he is, but has some work to do.
“Jah Prayzah’s music in comparison to other musicians who have made it on the international scene (Bhundu Boys, Oliver Mtukudzi, Bongo Luv, Mokoomba, etcetera), is heavily Zimbabwean. The music arrangement, the lyrics and the cultural undertones are clearly Zimbabwean, which is a positive in the one hand and a negative in that anyone who is not familiar with the language he uses may find themselves totally lost and alienated from what his music seeks to achieve.
“What makes his music transcend borders is his outstanding packaging of a production from sound quality to arrangement and videography. He still has a lot to learn though in ensuring his music is not arranged predictably in almost the same way for the majority of his songs. While he may get away with it on the local scene because his lyrics have a different message from one song to the other, he may have to work harder for the international audience which does not understand the language.
“But despite this major setback, which can be rectified with diversified creative thinking from the artiste, there is no doubt that Jah Prayzah is definitely contributing to placing Zimbabwean music on a good spot on the global scene. Music Crossroads Academy teaches musicians such attributes and more,” said Zambuko.
Jah Prayzah’s manager, Keen Mushapaidze said he believes his band’s performance at Miombo was another step in the direction of winning over an international audience.
“The festival was exciting not only in terms of the crowd but the platform to perform for a diverse international audience with some fans flying in from as far as Belgium. The people loved our music and danced to every track, even going with the flow of the band’s choreography.
“For us, such steps towards growth are always welcome and this comes as an addition to equally huge events that we have performed at in the past few years. These include the Gaborone International Music and Culture Week last year. The majority of the fans were Tswana and South African with a few Zimbabweans in attendance.
“Performing at concerts in any given country and having the majority of people in attendance being nationals of that country is what we are hoping to achieve both in the short and long term,” said Mushapaidze.
Mushapaidze says every major event they have performed at has led to many opportunities, many of them being of an international nature. The band has a busy international schedule for July and early August this year.
“We are also privileged to be travelling to Canada just a week before we launch our album. We will be performing at the Edmonton Folk Music festival, which is regarded as one of the biggest music festivals in Canada. This will be part of a tour of greater Canada courtesy of Slice International Artist Management. The festival will also come just a week after we visit the USA for yet another tour. Already the hype around that visit has got us geared and we are sure it will be another exciting performance,” said Mushapaidze.
Jah Prayzah and his team have a strategy to conquer the world market.
“We will continue to make music that appeals to our traditional lines while still producing songs that modernise our tradition. We are working flat out as well to create relationships with other big players in other markets and with this we hope it will get us into those desired markets.
“What we have realised of late is that it is not the music we should change so as to get recognition out there – it is how we get it out there for people to listen because once they do, we know they will love it.”
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