Queen Sheba’s Chiwanda haunts more

Music, in its wholesale is such an exciting art. When packaged in its fullness, it offers nothing but a satisfying feeling.

That is why musicians are always on the prowl trying to find better, exciting and inventive ways of delivering their content every day. Their work is not just restricted to the studio. Once the recording of the song is done, the work of attaching motion visuals to it begin.

Videographers are tasked with the huge task of developing scripts which can precisely relay the messages conveyed in the songs. That is done with regard to maintain the entertainment aspect of the whole package. Nothing boring like a dour video to a well composed piece.

Such efforts have oftengiven birth to eye-catching music videos which one can only devour with utter satisfaction. The plaudits that follow once one strikes the right buttons are enviable. No wonder every videographer would always love to put his name to a good work.

Some weeks ago, a relatively new name on the music scene Queen Sheba threw herself in the fray when she released a music video of her song Chiwanda. It is a song that has caught wind and interest among a section of music enthusiasts.

Whether it is because of the nature of the narrative, or the collaborative effort with Wikise and indeed maybe because of its outrageous music video, we don’t know. But here is a song which is seriously trending.

For what the whole song project is, one thing that will certainly stand taller than all, is the closure of Chitungwi Catholic Church in Lirangwe, Blantyre where the video was shot.

The narrative in the song is about a lady who has a weakness for dressing scantily. Realising her problem, she approached a church priest to have that demon exorcised out of her. There she was pleading with the priest who wasn’t interested to perform the task even in the face of insistence from the lady.

Now Queen Sheba, real name Rachael Muyepa, brought this whole act at Chitungwi Catholic Church. Artistically, it was well-acted. The dramatisation was just perfect and the costume used was in sync with the concept of the song.

In the aftermath of what everyone thought was just one of those exciting works of art, the church authorities have thought otherwise. The setting was simply a no for them and they have followed it up with an indefinite closure of the prayer house.

The socialite-cum-musician has been blamed for lowering the standards of a godly space and the church won’t have none of that. As it stands, Chitungwi Church stands closed. She has since written the diocese to beg for forgiveness and have the church reopened.

The Archdiocese of Blantyre Vicar General Father Boniface Tamani during the week said the process of re-dedicating the church to God will only begin after Easter. He didn’t even give a specific date as to when the process will be conducted nor how long that process takes.

The liability as to who authorised the shooting of the video has not fallen on anyone as Tamani said it was not the church priest who gave the nod as he was not consulted.

From where I am standing, I see two parties which failed to be honest with each other and a little bit of sloppiness in discharging duties of their respective offices. The artists knew exactly what they wanted out of their video according to the concept they had.

For whatever reason they didn’t make it known to their benefactors. A little honesty from the onset wouldn’t have hurt both parties. If Queen Sheba had sold the idea to whoever she approached to be granted the space, the final call would have been on that person to assess how tenable the idea was considering the sanctity of the premises.

Again, whosoever was approached, was supposed to ask all the necessary questions about what the whole project entailed. That clearly was not done and the whole episode has regrettably slid into a damage control mode. A bit too late.

The sensitivities of the church premises needed to be respected. If the actors couldn’t find an alternative setting for a video shoot, then maybe toning down the video concept could have been the answer. This case has presented a very exciting study for sure.