The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu
AFTER two months on the road, during which they won the hearts of audiences in the United States of America, Nobuntu are finally set to give local audiences a taste of their latest offering when they launch their latest album at the National Art Gallery on 24 November.
The all female ensemble has been criss-crossing North America over the past weeks, giving audiences a taste of their unique take on imbube as they look to market their upcoming project, Obabes Bembube, which is the third album they have released since the group’s formation.
In a statement, the globe-trotting group said their event, set to be held between 2 and 4pm on Saturday, would be open to everybody while physical copies of their latest work would also be available.
Diving into the actual content of the album, the group said they also expected the project to cement Nobuntu’s position as a group that defied what people thought a normal imbube group should be.
“The music represents a bold shift from the previous bodies of work which featured a fusion of afro jazz, acappella, gospel and traditional folk tracks. The album name ‘Obabes beMbube’ is colloquial for ‘young women of mbube’, an assertion of Nobuntu’s position as a musical force in a genre that is traditionally a male domain.
“The album was produced by Dumisani Ramadu Moyo, one of the founding members of the internationally acclaimed male mbube trio, Insingizi. Dumisani’s vision for the album encompassed Nobuntu creating their own signature mbube songs from a female perspective,” the group’s statement read.
The album’s female empowerment thrust would be exemplified by the album’s title track, which described some of the struggles faced by female artistes.
“The title track Obabes beMbube is about female mbube singers imploring a radio DJ, who usually airs a lot of male mbube, to include female mbube on their playlist.”
