Malinga Mafia at the Lake of Stars

Multi-Award-winning dancehall artist Malinga Mafia has just come up in the headlines again after emerging a winner for an environmental conservation related competition at the recently concluded Lake of Stars festival. Pardon my knowledge, but I think if my memory is a good servant, last time Malinga did something substantive is when he released a 22-track album titled “Flawless Heart” on the 17th August of 2016, which happens to also be the day that he celebrates his birthday.
Otherwise, not much has been happening or he has not been doing something to make things happen as he has been known for, ever since 2008 when he recorded his first single "Bwera” while he was at still Dowa Secondary school.

But the artist once signed under the massive Chit Chat Records Soundsystem, but now under a record label called Real Friends Entertainment (under the management of his brother Young Degree), came out at the Lake of Stars after hibernating for some time.

Apparently, the UN Malawi has even hailed the festival as the cleanest festival ever, for adopting an environmental conservation-based theme aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change.

In fact, UN Malawi initiated a social media campaign under the harsh tags #NoPlasticChallenge, #ClimateChangeMw and #Youth4ChangeMw, UNMalawi  where competitors were entering by taking a picture inside what was dubbed the Climate Action booth depicting how they are innovatively inspired not to use no plastics at the festival or carry a Climate Action placard and share on social media tagging UNMalawi.

Since the criteria were that the post with many likes, shares and retweets are the one that will be declared winner, with over 880 likes on his posts, Malinga Mafia got the first of a Samsung Galaxy A20.

While I applaud both UN Malawi and Lake of Stars for the initiative, I also doff my hat to Malinga Mafia beating other competitors to win it. Nonetheless I still don’t want to lose this opportunity to encourage Malinga Mafia to be active, musically because this victory was not a musical one per se.

Malinga Mafia, who also calls himself the Archaida General, has managed to establish himself as one of the top Dancehall stars who should not let himself to fade and only wait for organisers to organise their stuff for him to appear and shine albeit not in a musical way.

Born Chikumbutso Malinga Chitsundi-Banda, Malinga Mafia apparently indicated that he toured the whole country where he conducted nationwide launches of his album, right from Chitipa. This is the artist that the fans fell in love with and there is no need to relent.

Yes, I appreciate the fact that music does not pay well in Malawi that’s why Malinga was studying for a software engineering degree at NACIT college, but going by the large following when he entered the UN Malawi initiative speaks volume of the large youthful attraction that he commands. He therefore really needs to up the ante to satisfying his ever-demanding audience.

Around the time that Malinga Mafia was launching his album, he claimed that he had 160 recorded songs under his belt, but perhaps, if it is not me who is missing out, I can take the risk of saying he has really been silent. He really needs to continue meeting his standards because he is the one who set this bar and he can ill afford to perform below par.