Sangie was overbilled

Granted, Sangie – the emerging reggae artiste– has graced the billboards where she is selling a number of telecommunication products and services. She has stormed the male dominated musical stage with a litany of single hits that have made Sangie the household name.

The artist missed by a whisker the Nyasa Music Award in the Best Female Artist category which was controversially won by Miracle Chinga.

All this makes a great reading when one attempts to profile Sangie – real name Angel Mbekeani – as her age and her musical achievements makes it sound like a fairy tale. 

However that alone does not say a great deal on how much mileage she has in the inventory in as far as her musical output is concerned. Such lack of knowledge in this aspect therefore can be the case with those that organised her maiden album Painless launch on June 30 at Cross Roads hotel’s biggest of stages – The Great Sapitwa Hall.

Signs and signals ought to have been weighed when the organisers decided to put a price tag on event.

Of course when you read different reviews there is none that has pointed out the aspect of weaknesses in the way the launch was organised as every one is saying it was well patronised by a variety of fans that ranged from the youth, middle aged and the elderly. And that all performers ‘slayed it’.

The patronage was mesmerised by her music, backed by the Dynamics Band. All the singles that she has been dropping ever since her career commenced three years ago that include I do it all for love, Ndangozizidwa, Mayi wangwiro and all others made the list.

A track called ‘Pepa’ which in the album features Lulu was also performed on day of the launch.

The fact that the launch was supported by established artists Lawrence Lulu Khwisa and Patience Namadingo did not help matters as they seem to have stolen the lime light from the hostess.

No wonder there is talk that the reception that the audience gave Namadingo was overwhelming that when he was about to get things really going power miraculously went off. And that was the uncharacteristic end of the show.

Of course I have heard that the price tag was targeting her corporate audience because of her involvement with Airtel and Itel as well as several events she has been engaged in with bodies like UNICEF prior to the launch.

The genre that Sangie plays is ghetto music, this I can say any time without any apologies. The reggae fans refer to the so called corporate as Babylon. Much as the marketing strategy ought to indeed reap from such special group of people it is a fact that it needed to consider the aspect of her genre’s niche market whose economic standing cannot allow them attend such gatherings.

I am told plans are underway to re-launch the album in Mzuzu and Blantyre respectively and this is perhaps where organisers should not be over ambitious again.

Sangie is a product of the Ndirande Ghettoh and the fans that have helped her become what she is cannot be left out now that the team that is managing her thinks she has all over sudden become an expensive product.

This is her debut album and this is Sangie that only started music in earnest in 2014. She is the same person whose childhood playmates and cronies still reside in Ndirande or other such places of equal socio-economic status.

Not that I am discouraging her and the team to be ambitious but all I am pointing out is that they need not kill her drive by overbilling her. She is still a tyro who needs more shows, more exposure and of course more stage practice and coaching before she is ripe for the higher price.