Is the 2020 music bag is already full?
The last I had the privilege to play a DJ at some social gathering around town. I must confess I enjoyed the experience of making people dance at the stroke of music of my selection and choice.
As I went about my core business of the day I was oblivious of the makeup composition of the audience I was entertaining. So, there I was basking in the self-glory that I was the champion when it comes to music.
I had never enjoyed such a feeling before. That feeling of satisfaction which accompanied the lauding and cheering every time I introduced a new song. I was floating on cloud nine that I cannot lie.
My bubble was to be deflated soon. Requests from the audience started flowing in and be the over alert and well-equipped music man that I pretended to be on the day, I responded accordingly by playing the music as demanded by my jovial audience.
Everything seemed okay until someone demanded that I play Piksy’s new song. I thought hard and fast at what this song may be. My collection only took me as far back as Piksy’s collaboration with Hyphen Utchauya which luckily I had on my playlist.
Not sure though I enquired from the person who had made the request to mention the particular song he was referring to. To my damning surprise the person was not looking for the song which I had and within my fingertips to blazing. He wanted Chonchobe, the latest from Piksy.
When the title was mentioned that is when it dawned on me that I indeed came across some promotional poster on the social media announcing the release of that single a few weeks ago. But I didn’t have it on my playlist.
I had already done impressively well that far and I could not afford to lose the plaudits and confidence I had gained. I quickly went on Malawi music.com and downloaded the song. Within seconds it blazing on the big speakers that had surrounded our small gathering. The magic was done.
But in this moment I didn’t engage myself in the merry that accompanied the song. I took a moment to seriously listen to the song so I can make out what it was all about. I gave it some serious ear as I had to make a quick judgement on the song.
It passed for some beautiful composition. As usual the artist brought some humour in the song which has almost become his trademark. Above all it is tune which is danceable and as the audience enjoyed it, I only had to join in too.
In a normal setup I don’t expect myself to completely miss out on the release of a song from an artist as big as Piksy. But such has been the story this year. The first quarter of 2020 is yet to be completed but in as far new music is concerned, it has been thrilling.
Malawian music artists have shown unquenchable hunger to drop new releases week in week out such that is has become almost impossible to keep up with the speed and rate which new material is coming in.
You blink, you lose. Such has been the scenario. The competition for airplay has been very tight too. With the lack of live performances due to the coronavirus threat, the only reliable platform for artists to promote their material is through the radio and TV. My colleagues in the electronic media must be having a field day.
The end of the year awards this year will not be short material. It will be nice to watch who will walk away with the outstanding overall gongs at the end of it all. Hey! You music makers, keep the beats coming and let us savor the moment.
