Shumba or Simba, which will it be?
Chippa Legodimo | Tuesday October 7, 2014 13:41
Well, both Shumba and Simba refer to the lion, king of the jungle. Simba is the fictional character who appears in the production The Lion King while some African languages refer to the lion as Shumba.
The muscular musician recently released an album called Morobanyana under the name Simba and argues that such a move would not confuse his fans. “I am trying to create a different brand with a different musical focus and once you listen to the music in Morobanyana you will understand,” he said.Morobanyana is a mixture of mbaqanga, jazz and gospel with some remixes from the musician’s old tracks. “I have been catering for only one group of followers being traditional music lovers and now it is time to expand to other spheres. This is by no means a desperate move because traditional music is still selling well,” he said.
The piece starts with a remix of his popular Segwenegwene, which boasts of the ‘70s sounds of Mahlathini and a sharp lead guitar weaving through every section of the track. The same melody is dominant in another remix of his most successful song by far, Makhirikhiri. Ironically, the musician’s East African fans have resorted to calling his music, Makhirikhiri.
Another track likely to earn ‘The Lion’ more respect from competitors and followers is Morena Wa Bitsa.
Whether the fans will be able to easily differentiate between Shumba and Simba remains to be seen. But whatever the result, one thing that the new production has demonstrated about the bulky musician is his versatility.