When musician Patience Namadingo came up with the mashup concept almost two years ago, he probably had no idea how far-reaching its impact would be.
With seven separate mashup projects to date, the longevity of the concept seems to keep refreshing. The latest surge in popularity of the project has been courtesy of one of his collaborations with legendary Giddes Chalamanda.
The mashup, which has become to be known as Liny Hoo!, is hitting unprecedented numbers on popular short video streaming platform Tik-Tok. The song has so far hit 77 million views through various recreations.
Namadingo said considering the initial indications from the reaction that the song received, he is not surprised that the popularity of the song has been refreshed.
“A song as an artistic creation goes through phases. The song has been going through periods that it has been enjoyed by different people from different places. There was a time it was such a hit in Italy. And I had interviews with Italian radio stations on the same.
“In Ghana it also trended for a long period. And this time it appears it is the turn of South Africans to enjoy it,” he said.
Liny Hoo is plucked off Chalamanda’s known full studio recorded album titled Nsanje which was produced in 2000. The project was coordinated by a number of individuals including Richard Gadama who produced part of the songs at his RG Studio in Ndirande.
After a few setbacks in the course of their production, the team moved the project to Acton Studio which was under Chuma Soko where the album’s production was completed. The album was promoted under Geofrey Wawanya’s Mikondo Records.
Gadama said by then, their idea was to create an authentic beat which people could identify Chalamanda with.
He said: “We reluctantly got him in the studio and tried to make him sound as he always did. We wanted the music to be an improvement of what he used to record at MBC studios while maintaining his identity too. And the result was overwhelming.”
Gadama said having seen the concept of the song reworked on the mashup project, he hopes the ageing artist continues to get due rewards for his effort.
When contacted Chalamanda admitted that he has heard that “Azungu are dancing to his song”. He said he wished the people gave him a little token for his creation. The popularity of the mashup has also not spared video streaming site YouTube. On one Ugandan account called Talented Villagers the song has hit 6 million views while UK’s Music Man has recorded 10 million plus views.
