Political campaign periods have often presented rare opportunities for artists to make a killing out of campaign songs.
Over the years, many artists have done campaign songs for political parties and individuals to help sale their brands.
Joseph Nkasa, Dan Lu, Tay Grin, Mlaka Maliro, Lucius Banda and Symon and Kendall are some of the artists that have sang politcal songs.
In 2003, the late ‘Soldier’ Lucius Banda sang Yellow to rally votes for the then ruling United Democratic Front.
Mlaka Maliro is the latest artist to do a political praise song Tidzamuvotelabe, which talks about Malawi Congress Party candidate President Lazarus Chakwera. The artist met admonition from his fans after posting it on his Facebook page.
Peter Logan Utembe wrote: “Bro, with all these people suffering, you are coming to tell us to vote for this one? I thought you would be the voice of the poor and neglected. You are satisfying your worldly personal desires.”
But in a separate interview yesterday, Mlaka said he sees no problem in working with a political party that feels can elevate their agenda using his art. He said for long, he has sang against ruling parties, but he has benefitted nothing out of it.
“No single ruling party has ever loved my songs ever since. I have done critical songs about this administration too. So when they approached me to work with them, I saw no reason to decline. I am an artist and this is part of my job,” he said.
The Dzanja Lalemba hit maker said by coming up with the song, it does not mean he is an MCP member, but an independent Malawi with full rights and liberties to speak his mind.
“Those people fighting me have means to earn their income. I will not compose a song just for Facebook likes or to make someone happy. I have a family to look after. I cannot please everyone,” said Mlaka.
University of Malawi lecturer of music from the School of Arts, Communication and Design Naomi Scoon said in an interview there are no boundaries to artistry as artists are free to affiliate themselves with any political party.
She said if issues of freedom of expression are considered, artists should be left to choose and express themselves.
Scoon said musicians’ affiliation to political parties may have an effect as they may lose fans who may feel alienated. But she also said they may gain loyalty from fans who share the same political beliefs.
She said: “It is a tricky territory. Several musicians have affiliated themselves [with politicians], but they have maintained or at least regained popularity. Lucius affiliated himself to UDF and later UTM, but was still considered popular among fans of different political beliefs.
“Ultimately, it is the element of artistry that determines how much and what kind of impact that will come out.”
Long-time artist manager Samuel Chiwaka said artists need to tread carefully when working with politicians as the tendency has the potential to curtail their careers.
“Artists are mainly supported by corporates and when a party you identify with is out of government, no corporate will engage you. Politics and corporate work hand in hand. So while artists can look for immediate benefits, they should also look at the long-term popularity,” he said.
