Sangie was overbilled

Granted, Sangie – the emerging reggae artiste– has graced the billboards where she is selling a number of telecommunication products and services. She has stormed the male dominated musical stage with a litany of single hits that have made Sangie the household name.

The artist missed by a whisker the Nyasa Music Award in the Best Female Artist category which was controversially won by Miracle Chinga.

All this makes a great reading when one attempts to profile Sangie – real name Angel Mbekeani – as her age and her musical achievements makes it sound like a fairy tale. 

However that alone does not say a great deal on how much mileage she has in the inventory in as far as her musical output is concerned. Such lack of knowledge in this aspect therefore can be the case with those that organised her maiden album Painless launch on June 30 at Cross Roads hotel’s biggest of stages – The Great Sapitwa Hall.

Signs and signals ought to have been weighed when the organisers decided to put a price tag on event.

Of course when you read different reviews there is none that has pointed out the aspect of weaknesses in the way the launch was organised as every one is saying it was well patronised by a variety of fans that ranged from the youth, middle aged and the elderly. And that all performers ‘slayed it’.

The patronage was mesmerised by her music, backed by the Dynamics Band. All the singles that she has been dropping ever since her career commenced three years ago that include I do it all for love, Ndangozizidwa, Mayi wangwiro and all others made the list.

A track called ‘Pepa’ which in the album features Lulu was also performed on day of the launch.

The fact that the launch was supported by established artists Lawrence Lulu Khwisa and Patience Namadingo did not help matters as they seem to have stolen the lime light from the hostess.

No wonder there is talk that the reception that the audience gave Namadingo was overwhelming that when he was about to get things really going power miraculously went off. And that was the uncharacteristic end of the show.

Of course I have heard that the price tag was targeting her corporate audience because of her involvement with Airtel and Itel as well as several events she has been engaged in with bodies like UNICEF prior to the launch.

The genre that Sangie plays is ghetto music, this I can say any time without any apologies. The reggae fans refer to the so called corporate as Babylon. Much as the marketing strategy ought to indeed reap from such special group of people it is a fact that it needed to consider the aspect of her genre’s niche market whose economic standing cannot allow them attend such gatherings.

I am told plans are underway to re-launch the album in Mzuzu and Blantyre respectively and this is perhaps where organisers should not be over ambitious again.

Sangie is a product of the Ndirande Ghettoh and the fans that have helped her become what she is cannot be left out now that the team that is managing her thinks she has all over sudden become an expensive product.

This is her debut album and this is Sangie that only started music in earnest in 2014. She is the same person whose childhood playmates and cronies still reside in Ndirande or other such places of equal socio-economic status.

Not that I am discouraging her and the team to be ambitious but all I am pointing out is that they need not kill her drive by overbilling her. She is still a tyro who needs more shows, more exposure and of course more stage practice and coaching before she is ripe for the higher price.    

Sangie gives her music a women theme

The unique approach to this male dominated industry has earned Sangie, the upcoming female artist, much respect among music lovers and critics alike. She has put out well thought out music in both audio and video forms that continue helping her hog the limelight.

It looks like all and sundry now want to associate with her to an extent that her face is beginning to be linked with everything good including brand ambassadorship for mobile giant Airtel and Korean phone company Itel.

But it looks like Sangie, the country’s reggae/dancehall revelation is not only breaking the glass ceiling in taking the male dominated genre by storm but she has also elected to continually play the women’s rights card.

Sangie’s first offer on the market was “I do it all for Love” which was an anathema to women rights somehow as it is basically a love song about a woman so in love with her boyfriend such that she is not willing to dump him even when she acknowledges that her man is cheating on her.

It is however her subsequent offerings that are beginning to shape the face of the artist as a champion of women rights.

In her song “Ngwazi ya chikazi” which features well-loved poet Robert Chiwamba, Sangie sings her heart out about equality between men and women. She presents her lyrics that talk of women’s capability to do any job so long as they put their minds to it since they are no different from men. She demands equal opportunities.

Long before this track she released another song “Ndangozizidwa” which tackles property grabbing and domestic violence against women in the event of death of a spouse. The song resonates well with many Malawian women who either have experienced the malpractice first hand or have witnessed it happen to other women.

And lately the young artist has released another song titled “Mkazi wa Ngwiro” in which she is celebrating the strength of the women. Sangie highlights the many sacrifices that women do make for the sake of their families. And her video which features prominent women in our society like Jessie Kabwila, Patricia Kaliati and Scader Luis is doing justice to her campaign.

Lyrical pen finds this approach not only creative but important in a society where male dominance is taken as a normalcy. It makes beautiful poetry to see a lady who herself is breaking barriers in the music industry dominated by men also singing about women empowerment.

Sangie follows the footsteps of her iconic Jamaican reggae star Queen Ifrica who has also tackled the issue of female abuse by males head on.

Going by how Sangie has popped singles it is clear it’s high time we tasted a fully fledged album that has to test the market. 

At the moment these singles that are becoming too frequent that some of us cannot keep up with the speed only means that Sangie is an artist who has come of age. She therefore needs to have her music packaged and set for market and with her obvious female rights theme she can easily find support from likeminded institutions. 

Sangie’s jump into cheaters sequel

Sangie is the name that is lately on the lips of many. In June last year she did a track ‘I do it all for Love’ which has hit the airwaves as both an audio track and a musical video.

Of course it is a rhythm pronounced ‘Riddim’ created in 2012 by Foxxy at Step Up Records studio but she has bolstered it with her composition which is a reggae track that is in between the borders of Lovers’ Rock and non-hardcore dancehall.

Real name Angel Mbekeani, Sangie at 20 has managed to carve her place amongst the established artists, not in Malawi alone but also in Jamaica. 

This is what I mean: When you listen to her track you realise its a sequel of an issue that was first started by Christopher Martin when he released a single ‘Cheaters Prayer’ in August 2011.

In November the same year Ce'celie released ‘Cheater’s Prayer Counteraction’ in reaction to Martin’s hit single.

Now when you check the lyrics you will understand why Sangie’s can be lined up as the two tracks by the Jamaican stars is also one to be taken seriously.

For example Martin sings: “Oh Lord, don't let me cheat on my girlfriend, cause as far as I can see, She loves only me.

Oh Lord, don't let me cheat on my girlfriend, but Lord if you can't stop me from cheating, just don't let me get caught.”

In response Ce'celie sang back:

“Lord I don't wanna cheat on my boyfriend
But as far as I can see he's cheating on me
Lord I don't wanna cheat on my boyfriend
But lord since you can't stop him from cheating
wait til him left di yard, is a next man a come in yah.”

But while these two are trying to compete, where Ce'celie tries to cheat back on Martin for our Malawian voice through Sangie its a different case she sings:

“Oh Lord, don’t let me catch my boyfriend cheating instead make him stop because I am not leaving... Because I do it all for Love.”

It is a revelation that gives a fresh air to contributions from our ladies towards the development of our secular productions. The challenge is that the moment we start looking at our music with a spectacle Published on Jun 25, 2014.

“I do it all for love” audio was recorded at Mtanda Media produced by Sispence instrumental programmed but the Video was shot and directed by Lion Soldier and was edited by Platinum at Black Flames Edutainment.

But when you consider all the matters, it is clear that Sangie has not ashamed us by challenging with her part in the sequel as she has done it wonderfully well.

It is a revelation that gives a fresh air to contributions from our ladies towards the development of our secular productions. The challenge is that the moment we start looking at our music with such a spectacle, we blur the picture completely.

I have asked before that if you were to point out at a legendary lady musician in the country, who is into secular music, would you do that at the drop of a hat?

I would really be surprised if that were to be the case. Over a period of time if at all we have had lady musicians doing secular, then they would be a one album sort of artists.

I would not desire to go a yonder to give examples. I know you know Amina Tepatepa, Emma Masauko, Wendy Harawa, Maria Chidzanja Nkhoma, and Beatrice Kamwendo as some of the names that have hogged the limelight and then either disappeared completely and got stuck in the peripherals.

It is so bad that most of the women musicians are dominating the gospel arena where they survive by the faith of such religious following other than sheer talent and creativity.

There are very few names within the gospel cycles like Grace Chinga and Ethel Kamwendo Banda and of course Favoured Sisters and the Chitheka Family who are musicians by talent first and playing gospel as a contribution of their talent towards the work of God.

Sangie now comes to answer my question: Seriously, do we have a Malawi female musician worth mentioning?