Man on a mission

Afro-pop singer Dan Lu, fresh from his one-month musical sojourn to Nigeria, says he is determined to raise the Malawi music brand.

While, over the past two decades, most Malawian musicians’ quest for the international stage has been mere rhetoric, the It’s Part of Life musician is actually realising his dream.

Dan Lu recently penned a five-year contract with South Africa-based Nigerian label Sisqo Productions and used his trip to Nigerian to collaborate with top African artists—Limpopo star Kcee on the song Sweet Banana and Sawasawa hit-maker Flavour on One plus One.

In an exclusive with On the Arts upon his return last week, Dan Lu explained that, once he signed with Sisqo Productions, the mutual feeling was that he had to up his game and aim for the bigger stage.

“Both me and the label felt that I had done a lot in Malawi so we decided to take my music to another level,” he said.

And Dan Lu is now on the verge of fulfilling one of his biggest dreams as an artiste: to make his way into the busy music scene in Nigeria.

According to Punch Nigeria, the Malawian did a song with Kcee, titled Sweet Banana at the Five Star Mansion in Lagos before he moved on to Flavour’s residence in the Lekki area to record One

plus One. The video of Sweet Banana was shot in the same location on Sunday.

To Dan Lu, who arrived in Nigeria in the company of South Africa-based Sisqo Productions boss Chris Nwaogwugwu, the collabos with the popular Nigerian artistes are the key that will directly aid his planned ‘conquest’.

Dan Lu says his music is the type many music fans can relate to easily.

“I sing about love. And I think that Kcee’s music is similar to mine in the way he sings, the tonal quality and in the high notes. I think we have such qualities in common,” he said in an interview with Punch.

Aware of the impact of other performing music artistes from Nigeria on the continental music scene, such as 2face Idibia, PSquare and Don Jazzy, the musician said he also opted for a collabo with Kcee and Flavour because of their rising profile in Malawi.

“Apart from this, I believe that I have a lot to gain from collaborating with Kcee. I am sure it will help to improve my profile as an artiste in Malawi. Besides, everybody in my country is waiting for this to happen. They like his music and look forward to seeing him perform live in Malawi,” he said.

However, Dan Lu cautioned Malawian listeners against expecting an album too soon.

“What I have done is that I have adopted the system that most top artists in Africa use. What they do is that they release 10 to 15 singles and videos which play on the top TV and radio station. Only when the songs are popular do they compile the songs into an album,” he said.

Dan Lu said he intends to record two songs in Malawi, a further two in South Africa before returning to Nigeria to wind up the album.

The Uhule ndi Mtima musician is confident that he will hit the big time with his new music.

“The people who have listened to the songs have really loved it. But what is key is that both Kcee and Flavour are so excited with the music and they say they cannot wait for us to release it on radio and TV because they know that it is going to be huge,” he said. n