Samurai's guitar spices up Mupulu album

CHIPPA LEGODIMO
Staff Writer | Tuesday January 24, 2012 00:00

 

Always cool and collected the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) man possesses enormous talent, the magic from his finger tips have turned many a musician into stars.

He has been around for a long time but is showing no signs of slowing down. The latest man to benefit from Ngingo's brilliance is Biza Mupulu, the Angola-born DRC national whose latest album Gape Gape hit the music shelves recently.  The combination of Ngingo's impressive guitar skills and Mupulu's good lyrical arrangement has produced a good album for rhumba lovers.

The album Gape Gape dropped on December 26 last year might not be the best in the market but it once again demonstrates Mupulu's dynamism and assertiveness.  This is despite challenges such as the escalating rate of piracy and the slump in music sales due to the global recession.  According to Mupulu the music in his new offering is so 'good that one would want to play it again and again' - hence the title track.  The stylish dresser calls himself 'The owner of rhumba' with the letters boldly written on the front CD cover. He believes since he grew up in a country where this music originates, he has a better understanding of the sound and claims to have helped those he worked with before he went solo to become stars.

'Yes, I am the owner of rhumba because if you listen to my music you will notice the big difference between me and the other guys doing it here in Botswana. I am not boasting but I can safely tell you I did a lot to help Alfredo when I was still with him because I understood the music better. From a young age all I listened to was this music and it has become part of me,' Mupulu declared.

The light-complexioned musician came to Botswana more than a decade ago and became part of a band called Super Power band, which never really made any lasting impression. He later joined Africa Sounds mainly performing as a dancer and won a huge following, especially women who were lured by his stage antics and dress code.

The new album, a follow-up to his 2009 release Letheka, has two love songs Ma Namba 1 and Ma Tilly with words that could make any woman feel like a real queen.

Then there is the fun track Coca-Cola and perhaps to illustrate his love for the popular beverage his sleeve comes in red. The hard economic times got the musician thinking, hence he composed the tracks Go Thata and Stress though the latter is general about the many social ills that have turned life into such a misery.