After a lengthy sharpening process, songstress Ammara Brown believes she has finally struck the right chord and is ready to take her position as the queen in the male-dominated local music industry with her maiden album set for release on November 10. By Kennedy Nyavaya
The potential make-or-break project contains 14 songs, but that is hardly the catch as contemporary music followers would agree Ammara has sought the crème de la crème of pop producers in the land.
The list of heavyweights behind the album titled Ammartia includes the likes of Simba Tagz, Mr Kamera, Oskid and DJ Tamuka, among others.
“I’m releasing the album because my sound has come full circle. It’s ready,” Ammara told The Standard Style. With rising expectations, the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) Outstanding Female Artist of the Year admits the struggle for survival in the music industry is twice as hard for females and requires a strong soul to defy the “societal complexity”.
“Women have an uphill battle and frankly, it’s not coming to an end any time soon,” she said, adding that it is “beyond the industry”.
“Above and beyond that, women cannot ‘rough it’ with the boys on tour, nor can they socialise with the clients in the same way that men do without negative perceptions or negative expectations.”
This, however, according to her, should not stop women from trying harder as it “certainly hasn’t stopped me.”
“My advice is to surround yourself with people who respect you for your professionalism and go from there,” she said.
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Ammara has often been criticised for having earned much repute through collaborations without an album of her own, but she insists her work is not a nudge back at the detractors.
“I don’t aim to prove anything to critics; after all, their job is to comment on other people’s work. My job is ‘the work’,” she said.
Equally, her work speaks volumes of her capabilities and her recently-released single Akiliz is testimony, but her followers may want to live long enough to see the release of the album, which she says contains a succinct depiction of who she truly is in one of the songs titled Glow in The Dark.
“My favourite song on my album at this point is Glow in the Dark. It’s acappella and the most honest depiction of my soul. It’s refreshingly soothing to hear,” she said.
Other tracks to look out for include the title track Ammartia, Tawina featuring South Africa’s Jazz icon Hugh Masekela, Sey No and Crystal Blue Moon, among others.
There is no doubt the damsel is an achiever by nature and a peep into her fledgling acting career is another great feat for her after she won two Zimbabwe International Film Festival awards less than two months ago, but she maintains music is her first love.
