Namadingo - Soldier Mashup 2 was spoilt

Patience Namadingo is trending. If it is not Malawians and Zambians mimicking his hit song Mapulani then he is releasing mashups. We have seen him collaborate with Soldier Lucius Banda in the part one mashup before Billy Kaunda and the Black Missionaries also came on the scene.

I have my misgivings for the second mashup and this is the reason this week I have returned to talk about Namadingo yet again.

When he first released the first mashup with legendary soldier Lucius Banda, I said musical innovationist Patience Namadingo nailed it because the production came as a pleasant gift to the music fraternity which also helped expose Mozy Moshu Shumba, the producer.

I had also pointed out that Soldier on one side and Patience on the other, was like a vocal contest that told us that Lucius has never been a wanderer in the world of music. He is leaving huge footprints and considering that the soldier’s journey is ongoing, his counsel can do a lot of good to those aspiring to achieve musical success in this country. I can say the same was the case in the second mashup.

Patience exercised tolerable discipline in his approach when he did the first mashup with Lucius and Billy. However starting with the Black Missionaries mashup he started getting excited. If he was not talking too much between switching to the next song, then he was overdoing the voices to a point of making it lose the original tune.

Right from the first track, out of the 19 short songs that are in this mashup, Moyo Wanga, Namadingo brings in the element of one of his tracks when he sings  Ngati Njuchi - Ng'wing'wi which is a put-off

The same would be said of the second track 'Wadidolola' which he really tried to be smart with the vocals - his biggest asset - to appoint where he almost lost it. After playing the third track, he speaks ' Soldier usathe mawu' to transition it into the fourth track Zidzayenda. Doing this track as well had Namadingo pushing his luck too far with unnecessary 'condiments'  'sindingathe kupitiriza ndekha nkhani inachitikadi.

He messes up the fifth track again Mphawi Uja, when he sings/talks 'Tibwerezenso pa umphawi' then he dives into Tumbuka before commenting that - tayimba Chitumbuka usapyse mtima soldier.

The ninth track Zakukhosi he unnecessarily adds his Mapulani element. The following one, he talks about TamTam buses, Lucky Dube before he comments: 'kuyimba zosiyana koma zokongola'. Track number 11 he comments at the end 'basi ma awo-awo akwana'.

This is just part of many cobwebs that have come into the second mashup which tells it apart from the first one.

The good thing is that Namadingo and his team have seen the reaction which when compared with the last mashups has not had the same impactful reception. He got so comfortable that he started spoiling the good cause.

Another good thing is that the mashup productions make up for the keepsake for the lovers of music. I have a feeling that when we do covers of original tracks, we need to do justice to them.

The first mashup that attempt was clear but for the second one I think there was too much disregard of this requirement to freshen up the latest covers of the old. 

The additional wording of asking Lucius Banda to sing in English to prove if he knows it or not was another distasteful. This is a legendary artist that everybody knows his capabilities and the comment was a misfit.

It is very clear that the in-between comments are spur-of-the-moment so much so that at the end of the day, Namadingo cannot account for them.

One good example, the Mablacks mashup which ends with Matafale's Nkhoswe, Namandingo sings: Nyimbo Nyimbo ithele pompa poti mwamvera, Tikumanenso part two, poti ibweera.

Now when you consider the announcement that the last mashup was Lucius part 2, you have your answers.