Makondetsa’s Protest Continues

Back in 2013 when Anthony Makondetsa released his seventh album Fuko Lokondedwa I sat down to understand his journey since his inaugural album titled Tisatengeke released in 2000.

What he told me then was that he always thought once he started his musical career he will get wealthier than doing anything else.

He said buoyed by this belief and the fact that he comes from a musical family, the following year in 2001, he released Kambelembele in the hope that to have two albums in the bag would translate into a six-figured financial statement.

Perhaps he was doing things in a hurry and had a break of two years before unleashing a third and fourth album within two years. In 2003 he christened it Maonekedwe as the third album followed two years later by another one Mfakafaka.

In 2007 he released Ndilibe Mlandu which was tagged along by Mbumba ya Abraham in 2009.

At the time of the interview Makondetsa told me thus: "At the rate we are going, I realised that in my country Malawi you can entertain the people through music for the rest of your life but still die a pauper.”

Just last week he released four tracks to tease people, so that they get worked up before the release of his eighth album. The four tracks include the title track Ndagwira Mbendera and Wadziwa liti, Philadephia, Tipulumutseni.

Makondetsa said then that for years, and after invading the hall of fame with seven albums which means an average of 84 tracks, there was nothing to show and yet through music in other countries, just one track has catapulted musicians to stardom.

I remember to come out of that interview with this quote: “While the marketing system is a big let-down, then there is piracy to contend with. Piracy is lethal poison that is eventually going to kill the music industry.”

Makondetsa says soon after releasing Mbumba ya Abraham album he made a decision that he will sing religious songs which will take him closer to his God in protest against lack of progress despite fame and more musical products.

He realised that the schedule of this career takes him on the road half of the time and in a way was pushing him away from my God, and therefore discovered that he needed to create a situation where, if he does not get anything from music then then should always talk with his God through music for his own spiritual benefit and satisfaction.

“Now even when they will pirate my music and leave me a destitute, with God you don’t lose anything,” he philosophises. 

When you get down to listen to the tracks from his latest album it is as clear as day light that this is a continuation of the protest that Makondetsa talked about.

The tracks have messages that clearly show that Makondetsa is using the Holy Book as a springboard to set his composition juices flowing.

The four tracks serve as the best harbinger of what is expected of this forthcoming album which is very identical of Mandoketsa's last three albums. 

As music consumers, do we still let Makondetsa continue with his protests or there is something we can do to say his day?