Wizards stir to life with clarion call to Afrika

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Thursday January 21, 2010 00:00

 

A music album is a costly project and one would expect a recorded artist to work on promoting their albums instead of churning out new ones. Perhaps this attitude reflects the tough competition within the music industry. And not to be left behind is Kwaito-Kwasa outfit Wizards, who have just released a new album titled Afrika.

The album is an eight-track piece with songs like Ndofa Newe, Stand up Africa, Tonite, Woza Friday and  Are you ready? 

Ndofa Newe is a love song that is pregnant with themes. To a listener it does not only highlight the feelings of a young man for a beautiful belle, but it goes deeper as it exposes the relationship that exists between cultures in and outside Botswana. The artists sing in Setswana, English and Shona, a language that originates from Zimbabwe.

The song would definitely appeal not only to Tswana speakers but also to Shona speakers as well. It is quite a strategic move by the artists in that by so doing they have widened their market base.

Stand Up Afrika is an emotive clarion call to Africans to develop their continent. Tonite is a jolly kind of song whose tune moves your feet to dance. The singer invites women to join him at Gaborone's premier club - the Fashion Lounge - and have a fun-filled night of dance. The singing is good but is surpassed by the guitar beats that are being strummed in the song. You can see there is mastery by the guitarist who is strumming the strings.

It is therefore no wonder that the guitar in the album is being played by the highly respected Kapenda Katuta. The songs were composed by Wizards whilst the sleeve design  was by T.B Kusane and S.O Motlamme. The album was produced at Diamond Studio, Gaborone.