Dan Lu’s publicity stunts overdose

Sometimes the restraint to talk about ‘below the belt’ actions or howlers by music artists engulf me so much that I let it pass at the risk of either glorifying it by any mention on this space or ultimately missing out an opportunity to speak my mind.

But Lyrical Pen is there for these musicians and any wayward traits observed in the artists’ conduct need to be stopped in its track by opining on its merits and demerits.

Dan Lufani, the urban Afro-pop star is a talented artiste. No contest over this fact. He has proven through and through that he is one artist endowed with flair to dish songs that massage the auditory wits of the most hard-to-please music lovers.

It has become so difficult to ignore him; this is why every time he posts a picture kissing a ‘bared’ belly of his pregnant wife on Facebook; tongues engage a top gear and start wagging.

While entertainment experts lately consider posts of this shocking nature as a true ploy to draw attention and plop up their following and presence as part of publicity stunts, Dan Lufani’s latest exploits in Ireland clearly showed that he lacks guidance in order to only court beneficial controversy or publicity.

When you look at what Lufani’s PR team tried to come up with in order to palliate the controversy he courted while in Ireland, it is clear that it was a shoddy work because those doing it lacked skills and the dirt that Dan sprinkled on his professional fabric was just too much to be washed.

Some titbits that make up the subsequent statement says Dan Lufani tried to avoid meeting or being photographed with his ex. There is a half-naked woman that did not only pose with Dan Lu but they also hugged each other and yet the statement says he never touched her.

My take is that all this is a botched up job. To begin with, there are artists like Tay Grin who are an attraction to a bevy of beautiful girls but he will tactfully stay away from his female fans without being rude. He will either pose with the female fans in a group without being too touchy or he will pose with one fan but in a manner that clearly shows the boundaries. In other words he does not pose with fans in a compromising manner. This is called being smart and a sign of restrain which is a virtue eluding most artistes.

We can be all what we want as entertainers but the moment we decide to commit to a matrimonial acquaintance we need to behave like it because we stop only living for us.

Many talented artists have ‘strangulated’ their careers before it blossomed to beneficial levels because of the way they behave both in private and public life.

Somehow the actions of some of these artists have a bearing on their parents, siblings and not to mention spouses. Much as the artist would therefore desire to behave in a certain way that will make them enjoy all the trappings that go with this life, there are those people that wear this shame that should make artists cautious before they act.

There is always a limit to how much controversy one can use to get attention and publicity. If one is so careless that he becomes the topic of discussion on social media but in an all negative manner and a reference of ridicule to his spouse and family then it’s time to sit down and reflect.

I know many artists in Malawi adore Diamond Platnumz for his musical exploits as well as off stage stunts with beautiful women. But believe you me; lately he has started losing track and focus because he went off the rail.

It is crucial for artists to always play it smart and avoid being in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.     

             

Malawi urban music takes over

A seemingly simple question this one might look considering the genesis of what is now known as urban music. Not that it provides us with the opportunity to define what it is or is not, but it is all clear that Lucius Banda will be considered as the traditional archetype of our local music.

That it is on one hand, but on the other hand, Tay Grin exemplifies what ought to be known as the urban type of music.

Now what is bringing me into this talk this week is observation made over a period of two subsequent weekends.

There is a new joint in town – Blantyre – called Dusk to Dawn where one Friday, Tay Grin decided to organise what he called Afrima nomination party. 

He simply used the social media without going to the traditional advertising platforms to announce about the event. What followed is the jam parked dance floor where patrons parted with K2000 to gain entrance.

It should also be mentioned that performances started from midnight to morning and patrons kept trouping in all this while. There was lack of parking space outside the club and it clearly shows what this means when we compare it to this.

Come the following Friday, Lucius Banda and Zembani Band also performed at venue and the story was different as it failed to park to its capacity.

There are different schools of thought that are emerging in order to explain away this disparity. But I should say from the onset that this does not mean Tay Grin is better off as others are arguing.

I think it all goes down to the niche audience that these two artists separately appeals to. It is becoming an extremely painful reality that the urban audience is taking over the space.

Because the urban is more appealing to the youthful population which is becoming a dominant force it is clear as they say in marketing that 'consumers of niche products become product advocates more often because they feel more connected to the product and realize it was made for them'.

A good example is the free Ndirande show by Fredokiss. He parked a venue in a way that no meeting, be it political or religious could achieve. With politics and religion you know their manipulative power where they will try to profess popularity by parking vehicles with people that they ferry to such spots for obvious reasons. For Fredokiss it was just consumers of his niche products walking by foot to the venue.

       

What it means for traditional musicians is that this is the market to explore. Lucius has tried to feature hot musicians every time they are taking the music industry head on.

Recently, Fredokiss who is also known as Ghetto King Kong released latest hit song “Njira Zawo” which features Lucius Banda. This is the rendition of Lucius’ “Ali ndi njira Zawo” and if anything one would think that it should have been the other way round.

What is happening right now on the market shows that a very big boundary is developing, on one side there is the urban niche audience and on the other there is the traditional one. Again the venues also matter because it looks like the way Dusk to Dawn is designed it makes urban music lovers identify with it more than the traditional music followers.

If it were at Motel Paradise for example, would the Lucius Banda, Tay Grin comparison remain the same? At the risk of being wrong I would want to believe otherwise. It does not at all compare the two on the strength of their musical talent but it rather speaks of the shifting in fortunes for various reasons.

Unfortunately the urban niche audience has internet while the traditional remains there in the past where newspapers and radio announcements mattered.

The industry players perhaps need to rethink.

Tay Grin ‘Chipapapa’ Shame

Sometime ago I had listened to the latest song that the self-styled Nyau King Limbani Kalilani - showbiz named as Tay Grin – released called Chipapapa, which features the Nigerian singer 2Face.

I was about to write something against how it has been done when The Nation wrote a story implicating him in a copyright infringement case.

What is worse is unknown rapper Zizipizgani Beza aka Zizi-B accusing Tay Grin of redoing his Chipapapa song.

The reason I wanted to register my arguments has now been well buttressed by this case considering that Zizi-B is a mere Form Four student at Pact Secondary School in Blantyre, and he claims to have produced the song earlier in December last year with Twin Beats at 123 Records and gave it to Marcus Pasanje a DJ at Joy FM.

The argument of the two is that the hook is the same and I am surprised they are making such claims when this is a childhood song that all of us partook in singing.

Rightly put in the article, Tay Grin says Chipapapa is a childhood song that no one can claim ownership and if such song was like Chinafuna M’bale he would have sought permission to redo it.

He goes further to say it is his trademark to reproduce old songs…

Now this is where it was all clear that I needed to say something about this.

Now if you are like me and are listening to Chipapapa by Tay Grin one thing that comes out clearly is that it has been badly done if one compares it with what used to obtain when we consider the musicality in the original childhood Chipapapa.

Even the hook that these two are fighting for is one a short riff that used to appeal to us not only as children but even to our elders at the time.

What is even more disappointing is that just like he did with ‘2by2’ he has clearly killed the musicality in the childhood song.

The original Chipapa has was able to exude some sensitivity, knowledge of eerie and flat but sticking musical talent that provided the quality and state of being musical which is absent in the Tay Grin rendition even after trying to elicit the services of the Nigerian musician.

The Tay Grin beat has also failed to relay or even better the musical ability pitch, rhythm and harmony that the earlier one commands.

The original Chipapa had a very strong musical receptivity which was why generations after generations we were able to reproduce it and its storage was just in the air and the mind. That’s how powerful the folklore and childhood songs were or are.

Now this is why it is bringing me to appoint that Government as a representative of the people needs to hold the intellectual property as well as the copyright of these songs. I suggest the Museums of Malawi or the Malawi National Archives must be holder or custodians to these rights.

We can’t have artists like Tay Grin who are more of entrepreneurs than musically talented artists to be defiling such a rich heritage. These holders are supposed to ascertain if the recreation of such folklore or childhood songs because we do not want the mediocrity that Tay Grin churns out that destroys this treasure.

In The Nation story that I talked about earlier also interrogated Copyright Society of Malawi senior licensing officer Rosario Kamanga who said they can only act if they have established a violation.

My question is it will be violation against what because anybody can just woke up one day and start destroying the contents of the country’s musical treasure trove.

The challenge when artists fail to stimulate their creative juices they only settle for something that is already a household. This is what entrepreneurs like Tay Grin do.

He is like Shawn Corey Carter, known by his stage name Jay Z, who although a rapper, record producer and entrepreneur his music rides on his entrepreneurial scores and not the other way round.

You look at people who have creative juices like Evison Matafale; he composes a track like Waseseleka and it stays on the lips of everyone. But artists like Tay Grin do not have what it takes to come up with such compositions and instead just want to regurgitate the famous folklore and childhood music.

My problem therefore is how instead of improving on the same so that it helps to perpetuate our priceless treasure, these Tay Grins of this world come to degrade them. Of course there is also timeliness related to copyright where after such a time elapses its free for all...But I still want some honour to be bestowed on our best works. 

We therefore need the protection of those that we should empower so that we are able to preserve the musicality and all those related and attendant issues that make such songs priceless.