Ahead of the game
The saying ‘a prophet has no honour in his homeland’ continues to echo in Malawi as more and more local talent continue to gain recognition and dominate in regional and international showbiz circles.
Benn Gilbert Kamoto, who trades as Gemini Major in music circles, is a Malawian-born Afro–pop singer and record producer.
Born in June 1990, Gemini Major finished his high school in 2007 and later graduated in Information Technology (IT).
In 2009, he moved to Durban, South Africa to pursue his dream as an artist and record producer.
In 2015, the Malawian-born producer made headlines when he got signed to Family Tree label which is owned by South African award-winning rapper, Cassper Nyovest.
“I got signed on June 14 2015 which also happened to be my birthday. That was the day when Cassper made the announcement. I am very humbled and looking forward to making good music with this team,” said Gemini Major in an interview.
In the same year, Gemini Major was nominated for Producer of the Year at South Africa Hip Hop Awards.
As if that was not enough, he appeared in DJ Switch and Cassper Nyovest’s Raphandawenawetsang of which he produced and Witness The Funk (WTF)’s Wangnika videos.
Recently, he has released Badman ting featuring Aweon Wolf and Ragga Ragga featuring newly-signed Family Tree label mate female rapper Nadia Nakai which are enjoying airplay on South African radios.
Badman Ting video was released in April and he performed it live on Channel O.
In an interview with Channel O, the self-acclaimed new age Shabba Ranks said his sound is a mixture of different influences ranging from hip hop, reggae dancehall and African sounds.
“I come from Malawi, we have different sounds,” said Gemini who was heard mentioning Malawi throughout the Channel O interview.
He has also produced Nasty C’s Juice Back, Stilo Magolide’s Day Off, featured on Khuli Chana’s Walking and Dabbing and DJ Waxxy’s International.
Among other achievements, this year Gemini Major received a Rising Star Award at Malawi Achievers Awards (South Africa), which took place Scarlet Ribbon in Johannesburg.
Asked on what he thinks about Malawi music industry, Gemini Major said: “I have been out of the Malawian industry for a while, but I definitely would like to be part of building it up internationally, I am hoping to build a bridge between Malawian industry and South African industry.
“I will be dropping a new single and video in collaboration with a Nigerian dancehall artist. Big name, I can’t disclose at the moment. I am also working on a new project with Malawi’s DJ Sonye.”
The Family Tree member, who was also part of Cassper Nyovest’s Refiloe album as a featured artist and producer, further disclosed that he is currently working on his new project which he said details will be announced in due time.
The producer was also one of the opening acts who performed at Cassper Nyovest’s #fillupthedome concert.
He said: “Performing in front of 20 000 people at the #fillupthedome concert. I didn’t think that was possible, at least not so soon in my career.”
According to Gemini Major, his sound is inspired by artists such as Wizkid, Burna Boy and I-Octane.
“My sound is a celebration of music, love and life in recognition for both its pain and pleasures on a personal level as well as socially,” he said.
Gemini’s past work include production used in TV Shows such as Gold Diggers Season 3, Forever Young and Mo Love.
