Afro-pop: the way out?

For years now, the narrative of most Malawian musicians has been about their dream to make it on the international stage.

In the last two decades, the Malawian sound has evolved. There was a time when local artists appeared to place their faith in reggae music. Artists such as Evison Matafale, Hax Momba, Lambanie Dube and Never Ending Jupetters got into a serious reggae drive.

That wind only blew for a period. Then a fusion of local elements became the order of the day. Artists such as Ben Mankhamba, T Man, Stanley Nthenga, Bantu Kamuladzi and Lawrence Mbenjere emerged as the defacto poster boys.

In an interview with Chill, Ben Mankhamba, formerly known as Ben Michael, attributed their limited success to several factors, including the production standards of most studios then. He said the music they produced was only good for the local ears.

He said: “When we gave our music to foreigners they could ask us if it were a demo or a final copy. That talks a lot about the standards of our productions. We also lacked connections with international production and record labels.

“You could hardly see any local song feature on international television channels. That made it difficult to market our music outside Malawi.”

Ben Mankhamba contends that the indigenous rhythm hinder them from making strides abroad since people loved it.

Wandumi Mwakisulu, a former member of the pace-setting group Bantu Khamuladzi, said their biggest challenge is that they fought against the tide of technological advancement. He said if they had introduced that music now, they could have registered international success.

“It is unfortunate that the current crop is failing to develop from the foundations that we laid. We should avoid feeding much into these other genres. They are African yes! But there is nothing Malawian about them apart from the language.

“These are just passing trends which will soon go, but we need to promote something that will always be there,” he said.

Their charge could only last a mile and despite recording individual success, the brigade soon faded into oblivion. The identity of Malawian music continues to undergo a refinery.

After numerous experiments with dancehall, rap, R ‘n’ B and amapiano genres, local musicians now look up to Afro-pop. The bandwagon of artists riding the Afro-pop wave continues to swell every day.

It is not rare to see a song by Onesimus or Emmie Deebo featured on pay television regional platform Channel O. The two are just some of the artists that have made considerable strides with the genre. 

Entertainment stable Akometsi’s marketing and operations manager Laurent Kwakwala said the Afro-pop genre has been tried and tested as an African genre that’s why it is enjoying huge popularity.

He, however, said there are several mechanics involved for an artist to make a breakthrough on the international stage.

“Without any doubt we have the talent here. But it is about who you know and how many you know within that chain. For one to achieve all this you need an enabling budget which is in millions. We will only make that breakthrough if we get these enablers correct,” said Kwakwala.

Music and arts commentator Wonderful Mkhutche in a separate interview said the failure to make an international impact was due to the music that dominated the 1990s and 2000s.

He said: “The music was dominated by various types of reggae such as Balaka and Chileka reggae. These beats were not relatable enough to the rest of Africa, hence, our failure to make a breakthrough.”

Mkhutche said if Malawian musicians are able to perfect the Afro-pop beat, they will be able to gain from the popularity of the Afro-pop genre in the region.

“The genre is relevant across the continent and some parts of the globe. We have already seen how some local artists are gaining international recognition with it. The genre is the answer to our international aspirations,” he said.

The commentator was also quick to point out the role played by digital advancement to aid the growth of the industry. He said musicians now promote their music via the digital platforms.