By Kennedy Nyavaya
The recent pressure from music fans for dancehall chanter Winky D (pictured) to release an album was the perfect cue for his camp to launch, after lengthy delays, the yet-to-be-named project, his management has said.
Followers of the Gombwe hit-maker have been upbeat and fiercely pushing for the issue of new 2019 material in what appears to have prompted him to announce the new release on December 31 at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) .
“It’s the people’s right to demand music because the artiste has committed to giving the fans that. So, when the people call for music, we activate the process to produce something,” Winky D’s manager Jonathan Banda told the Standard Style on Thursday.
“The push for us is part of a necessary music cycle because we had been contemplating bringing new material all along without really deciding when so the so-called pressure was somewhat a signal that this is the right time.”
According to Banda, who termed the process of agreeing on new album’s content as “ the gruesome and tedious”, setting it up involved a lot of introspection and inclusion of different views.
“It is one of the processes I am not happy to get into because it involves too much but at the end of the day we are inclusive and cater for all,” he said, adding that the goodness of the album will depend on their followers.
“It’s more up to the people than us but I feel it is something that the majority will relate to because it resonates with the ordinary people’s everyday story (and) this is a reality album where we experimented with a lot of things.”
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The album, which was partly produced by Oskid, Jusa Dementor and the capable hands of Winky D’s younger brother, Layan, among other producers is expected to impress different music lovers from diverse spheres.
Its title has remained contentious but Banda said they have left that process to their fans in a first set to define the enigmatic chanter’s new course.
“It (naming concept) is about ownership, the people should own the album like here people have their own ideas and all that we are doing is listening with the plan to incorporate the popular view,” he said.
Meanwhile, Banda dispelled their music’s supposed alignment to opposition as a superficial misinterpretation of their music centred on social commentary and everyday life.
“Winky D is one artiste who has never been aligned or seen with a political figure or at rallies but sometimes there are misinterpretations and actions around our music but we remain on record saying that there are no political messages in our music,” said Banda.
The stakes are high for all artistes to prove their mettle in the hotly contested year and this much anticipated album will serve as a timely opportunity for Winky D to prove if he is indeed the most influential artiste of this era.
Concert tickets going for $100 ordinary and $250 VIP for the show are available on the Ownai online platform with limited tickets organized for the less technical savvy.
