Haxi Momba's confused identity

Haxi Momba, is one musician who reminds me of the late Gift Fumuani, another iconic music artist of note from Chileka.

I had once observed that Gift Fumulani died while still searching for a right spiritual sanctuary, going by his music. From the face of it though, he was an Adventist through and through.

I based my argument on Gift's quandary when he had just released his ten-track album ‘Mphamvu yake Mulungu’. His dilemma is characteristic in most reggae music players or those that sport ostentatious dreadlocks and chant Jah Rastafarie in their music.

Fumulani’s album is purely reggae, which is known as conscious vibes because of its religious construct. One question that stands out high when listening to this album is whether Fumulani was a Rasta or just a Christian.

This is the question that has not left Haxi Momba ever since he arrived on the musical scene with Chibvumbulutso Volume 1, a debut album which had a hit track ‘Kufa Safelana’.

He went on to release, up to Chibvumbulutso Volume 7, a pattern first seen in the country when Evison Matafale announced that all his albums will be called Kuimba 1 and so on and so forth. The Black Missionaries have helped to live the Matafale dream as they are now about to release another Kuimba sequel.

Because most of Momba's songs in his albums were shamelessly replete of imitation of either Burning Spear or Joseph ‘Culture’ Hills not many gave him chance.

The more the tongues wagged about how short the future held for his musical career, the more the albums kept coming from Haxi Momba who started calling himself Prophet.

Soon after the Reggae Prophet released Chibvumbulutso Chapter 7, it used to be volumes - in 2014, a year later he announced that he is shifting from secular to Gospel.  

I remember to have suggested the same on these pages back in 2014, that with that album, he had brought a new question of whether he is on the verge on turning to Gospel considering the rendition of the hymn ‘Siliva Ndilibe’.

Before, the rest of Momba's albums were short of explaining his spiritual preserve.

But if you consider that when he was starting his career he was not even sure whether to or not to grow dreadlocks and instead he had plaited his hair in dreads. Over time his image changed as he acquired real (meaning natural) dreadlocks.

But now with the release of his Gospel album called Messiah he has cut his hair and is clean shaven ready to share the stage with the likes of Ethel Kamwendo Banda.

He says this is the return of a prodigal son. It raises the question of authenticity of beliefs considering that Buchi, the famous Nigerian gospel icon, does his stuffs by riding the reggae genre.

Granted that he has done some tracks in reggae, but again Momba has done so using praise and worship tunes. This in other words is to say that Momba is still not sure if reggae will still make him holy or will make him look heathen.

In the event that the swivel pins of the gospel music industry have put on display their indifference towards his push as we have observed in this country before more questions now abound.

Will Momba stand his ground or will he otherwise show us some traits of the late Geoffrey Zigoma who was undecided before settling for one thing?

The question of playing reggae without being a Rastaman is something that ordinarily should not be an issue at all.

We have plenty examples. Anjiru and Chizondi Fumulani are Seventh Day Adventist faithfuls who are band members of a reggae group the Black Missionaries.

It is therefore important for our artists to stop confusing music and their spiritual beliefs, of course with reggae music, the line tends to be murky at times.