Q to release album online
Poet Qabaniso Malewezi releases his first ever spoken word poetry album online, two weeks ahead of the scheduled launch on April 2 at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.
Popularly known as Q, the album titled People, which arguably cements his voice in local poetry and spoken word will be released on www.cdbaby.com, an online record store, on March 19.
Since announcing his plans to release the album, the poet has reiterated his dream of taking it across the globe through online sales.
“The online release is mainly for people outside Malawi who can’t purchase the actual CD. I have had many requests asking if they can buy it online so it will be available on www.cdbaby.com.
The album will be available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Amazon and Tidal, according to the poet.
Piracy remains one of the challenges the arts industry continues to
grapple with in the country. Any attempt to protect his work from pangs of piracy?
“Piracy is a big problem indeed. As artists we are protected by the law but enforcement remains an issue. We can try all sorts of methods to protect our work but in the end some people will find a way to pirate artistic works. Our biggest protection is an educated market that refuses to buy pirated works,” he said.
In an effort to motivate the youths, Q is giving out 100 free tickets to his album launch.
The launch will see South African poet, Vangile Gantsho performing as well as DRC asylum seeker slam poet, Menes, Benedicto Wokomaatani Malunga, Robert Chiwamba and many other local poets.
Tickets to launch are still available at Papaya, Foodworths, Crossroads Business Centre, Flavours Cafe, Ulendo Travel Group at K5,000 Standard and K 10, 000 for VIP.
