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?

How long should musicians play on stage?

‘When you walk on stage you cannot walk off unless there is nothing left to give’ this is according to Brian Roemmele, an alchemist and metaphysian.

This is exactly supposed to be the case when our musicians conduct live performances.

I live just behind Motel Paradise which happens to be the common venue for musicians. Almost on monthly basis or whenever there is public holiday, Entertainers Promotion of Jai and Tonderai Banda line up a few artists that perform throughout the night and only stop at dawn.

One fallen musical great once said standard performance duration for professional live bands is 45 minutes. Live band performances are thus sold or bought in 45 minutes sets. If an artist plays for 90 minutes he/she gets $ for two sets.

Now for a reviewer and critic like me I have a problem yes, when an artist will play from 11PM to 5AM but if that’s what they have announced will be the duration of their act, then I have a very big problem when it is not done honestly.

I know that some artist is aware that they cannot last a mile; if indeed they play more than 45 minutes and the promoters are also aware of the same that’s why you will find a list like that of Police Orchestra, DNA, Sir Patricks, Anthony Makondetsa and the Black Missionaries and all their supporting cast.

Most of the times the indication is that the shows will commence from 8PM but most of the times it starts at 11PM meaning by 4 or 5 AM at least six hours of play has passed which if you base it on standard performance time, this would be a raw deal.

One other aspect is that do the artists know how much they should be out there performing?

I have seen that locally artists are neither aware of this not the need to protect their voices no wonder a few years down the road what used to be their golden voice is now replaced by some un-recognisably croaky, gruffly throaty, and guttural voice that takes away the artist’s mettle to either record more or perform.

Because naturally our bodies are not meant to overstretch some acts arts will resort to what they consider as performance enhancing substance like alcohol and drugs which in turn are taxing as they compromise the voice of musicians; that same voice that catapulted them to stardom turn them into laughing stocks once it is distorted.

‘Fuko Lokondedwa’ is Makondetsa’s Protest

On the account of the contagious awe that his six previous albums have drawn out of many people, Anthony ‘Mr. Cool’ Makondetsa decided to carve another piece of facet that has become the most shining of his multi-faceted career when he released of ‘Fuko Lokondedwa’ - his seventh album.

Since his first album in 2000, ‘Tisatengeke’ the journey has been that of hope. And 2016 we are told an Eighth album is in the making. But let’s talk about ‘Fuko Lokondedwa’.

Toils without Dividends

Makondetsa himself reminiscences that he always cherished the dream that, “with music I will get wealthier than doing anything else.”

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 ‘Maonekedwe’ as the third album followed two years later by another one; ‘Mfakafaka’.

It is now apparent that every two years, Makondetsa releases an album if the release in 2007 of ‘Ndilibe Mlandu’ tagged along by ‘Mbumba ya Abraham’ in 2009 is rendering enough clues to reinforce this observation.

But well, it is flatly challenged by the release of ‘Fuko Lokondedwa’ which came after four years.

The answer is in what Makondetsa says is his new posture of protest.

“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,” observes Makondetsa.

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

“While the marketing system is a big letdown, then there is piracy to contend with. Piracy is lethal poison that is eventually going to kill the music industry,” says Makondetsa who rubs it in the face of most Malawians who help piracy by buying pirated music.

Religious Protest

Makondetsa says from the preceding Mbumba ya Abraham album before the latest Fuko Lokondedwa; 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.

“I realised that the schedule of this career takes me on the road half of the time and in a way was pushing me away from my God,” he explicates, “I discovered that I needed to create a situation where, if I don’t get anything from music then I should always talk with my God through music for my 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.

Now, besides the protest for lack of assets accumulation out of music and that Makondetsa, a father of 13-year-old Yankho who though in Standard 5 is already a keyboard expert, says he is spending more time reading the Bible where he is getting inspiration to come up with latest compositions.

And indeed this reggae album has given people another reason why they should keep on mistaken ‘Mr. Cool’ as the de facto leader of the Chileka outfit – The Black Missionaries.

Mythical themes

But perhaps without trying to be judgemental, it is only fair to state that his latest ‘drudgery’ only manages to confuse his followers more as it still adds to the myth that are in the themes of his message.

It reminds all, of living and fallen stars that once shone and still shines, and provide unfading light to the Singano Village in Chileka.

One that quickly comes to mind is the star in fallen Gift Fumulani. He is Makondetsa’s cousin, whose last ten-track album ‘Mphamvu yake Mulungu’ still controls its place in the hall of fame as one such musical artefact that is more revealing. Long he had also decided to get his inspiration from the Bible.

Nonetheless like Makondetsa’s ‘Fuko Lokondedwa’ it is a very personal statement of one man whose mind was still searching for a right spiritual sanctuary.

While Fumulani’s last ‘toils’ was an interface of intercession, mingled in a psycho-religious dilemma, spiritual declaration, interlocked with an expression of love devotion, in Makondetsa’s latest ‘efforts’ there is one religious man whose every track is incomplete without mentioning the name of God the father and the Son – Jesus.

Look at the opening track of the 11 tracks in the album, ‘Ali Pompano’ which impresses on the message that Jesus gave to his disciples that the one that will betray the Son of Man was amongst them. You are left wondering to whom the message is being directed to.

The lyrics:-

“Eeeh! Ali pompano – Yemwe azakupachike”(Yes he is here – the one who will crucify you)

Indee! Ali pompano – Omwe azakupele.”(Yes they are here - those who will betray you)

It shows that Mr. Cool loves to be allegorical in the lyrical aspect of his tracks.

Remember ‘Ndilibe Mlandu’? It does not specifically state its theme on one attempt of trying to understand its lyrical content.

“It’s just a gift from God that I can present my musical message in such a parable like way,” acknowledges Mr. Cool.

Gospel, Spiritual or religious

The second track, ‘Podzatitenga’ is something artists like Lloyd Phiri will turn green with envy with as it is a typical of what they call gospel tracks, still bringing confusion to the question, Who is a gospel artist?

‘Muyuda’ which is one of the album’s biggest hits has the same ring to it but I don’t agree to describe it as a gospel track, it’s rather a religious track.

“You can’t identify what I sing as what has become accepted in Malawi as Gospel music. It’s not spiritual music,” says Makondetsa before agreeing, “But yes it is religious music.”

Uyu ndi muyuda; Ochokela/wobadwira ku Yudea

Abale ake nga Chiyuda; Ndiye Mfumu ya ayuda

The rhyming chorus above has become explosive, and like is the case with the past works; these tracks tend to become street anthems.

‘Fire Time’ one of two English tracks is also talking about the son of man who is about to finish the revelation with fire, while the other English track ‘Black Woman’ is where he is expressing love of his black beautiful woman whom he cannot stay without.

This track and ‘Sadziwa’ as well as ‘Sudzampeza’ are the only three tracks that have no where mentioning Jesus and God, perhaps because they are love tracks.

Mr. Cool of the tribe of Benjamin

The title track ‘Fuko Lokondedwa’ is Makondetsa’s favourite: “In this track I am talking to my God and I feel good about the sensation it emits when I am singing it.”

There is a track dedicated to his grandfather Enoch Robert Fumulani called ‘Wagwa Mtengo’. He passed on to our ancestors four years ago.

He says as someone whose mother was last born as was the case with Biblical Benjamin – by the way, Robert Fumulani Jnr. father to his Black Missionaries cousins was 5^th born while Arnold, father to late Gift and Moda was 8^th while his mother was 9^th – he made the track his personal docket.

“In this track I talk about myself and family in earnest. I talk about me and my upbringing in the household of my grandparents,” says the diminutive father of three, whose other two children are Anthony Junior and little daughter Salome.

In the book of Genesis 49 Jacob blessed all his 12 children and when it was the turn of Benjamin whom Makondetsa identifies with, he said “Benjamin is the ravenous wolf, devouring his enemies in the morning and dividing his plunder in the evening.”  

Does this signpost that it is time for pirates to take cover?

The 11 track reggae album, [of course ten tracks, if one considers the dub version inclusion of Fire Time], is a typical of Makondetsa album, except that the Biblical influence seems to be doing wonders; besides its protest approach, it is quite engaging and one can only respond to Mr. Cool’s pleas and buy a copy.

“Piracy, especially in Lilongwe where it is being done on a large scale, is compromising our status and considering the poor music industry, I don’t know what Malawians are expecting us to become,” bemoans Makondetsa.