He is new for the younger generation. But for those who were teens in the mid-90s, Jeff Kaira is not fresh in the Malawi music scene.
He is the founding member of an all boys band called Boyz Lazzy which, from nowhere, rose to stardom. They became and influential among the youths before and shortly after the multiparty dispensation.
Now Kaira, one of the three surviving members of the group, is in October releasing a solo album which he has been working on since 2010.
“I am working on my first album with a mix of influences from reggae, rap, house to R&B. It’s basically an Afro-pop album. It will be out at the end of October. The name of the album keeps changing, so I will hold on to the name for now. The album will have spiritual music on it and also dance music,” explained Kaira.
He said frustrations back then made him not to release an album and that he is working with different artists in Malawi.
“It is being recorded in a couple of studios by several producers. It has taken me so long because I had technically quit doing music after some frustrations I went through in South Africa where I secured a deal with Gallo Records but it never went through the recording phase before it was terminated due to misunderstandings between the company and my agent. I want to have more than 15 songs on this album. It features a number of artists such as Dan Lu and Piksy on it,” he said.
Some of the producers working on the album include Janta, Uze Percy Manyozo of Pro P and Recall.
Explained Kaira: “This album will be just me doing me. It will be up to the fans to classify it and if at all it will be unique.
“But I am just putting out my best on it. It seems in Malawi we have only two categories of music classes; secular and gospel. This means it’s either you are for God or you are not. To me that sounds a bit too politicised. Music is of several classes, some of which are listening music and dance music or educative music and advocative music. I prefer classifying my music as educative and advocative,” he said.
