By Kennedy Nyavaya
Love or hate him, there is one thing you cannot take away from Jah Prayzah and that is the ability to make seamless videos for his music.
The award-winning vocalist’s long history of pouring in generous budgets for videos is well-documented and paying off as one can tell the difference from watching Maria — one of his first videos — and Munyaradzi extracted off his latest 10th album a few days ago.
From travelling to shoot in the region to coming back for the unique local sites, he has been known to invest more into endearing visuals and that could be his foolproof plan into the hearts of those who would not pay attention.
His lyrics, sometimes mysterious and prone to political conspiracy theory, may be a bone of contention. But what he has managed to do over time is make critics eat humble pie by painting relatable depictions of his stories.
In the most recent works director Vusa Blaqs’ genius is hard to ignore, but also it is the imaginative lyrics by the Uzumba-born performer, which strengthens their chemistry on set.
Marrying lyrics with appropriate visual scenes is a special skill and the kind of magic between Jah Prayzah and Blaqs is enough to hoodwink the most critical music analyst into liking a song below par.
It is this mischievous rewriting of the initial script that has led knockers into watching clandestinely in addition to accepting that they are at fault to judge Jah Prayzah based on lyrics alone.
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The Mukwasha video will make you laugh or smile at the very least, Donhodzo will make your hormones race and force some movement, while Munyaradzi will simply make you cry even for a lover you never had.
Such is the effect of these videos for many who post emotional responses online.
Upon hearing Kumahumbwe released a few months ago , for example, one would have been forgiven to think it was another tired reincarnation of a story about an eloped lover but alas when the video came, it was a story of tragedy.
“I can relate to this song…,” wrote Thoko Mukundidza, in the YouTube comment section before pouring her heart out for “the first time” about a deceased childhood sweetheart:
“Thank you Jah and team for this song…This is the first time I have poured my heart out after the day you left me. I will not cry anymore but smile coz [sic] I have a song to play each time I think of you My Tafadzwa.”
Essentially, apart from his perceived flaws, the man is a sure connoisseur of mind games and with emotionally-charged visuals as well as apt acting, he is winning.
It is no mistake that his work is trending and will continue to do so for some time because it is purely worthy the attention.
