The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday Life Reporter
EVER heard the popular aphorism patience pays? An artiste — a musician to be precise — Leslie Luwizhi Chibona-Kampila is testimony to that phrase, having worked for more than a decade in the cut-throat music industry learning the ropes only to release his album recently.
For someone who got into the music industry in 2002, an album was long overdue as he has, for the past years, been gaining experience from people like Sani Makhalima and curtain raising for South African big names such as the Malaika trio and Ringo Madlingozi.
“Fine wine gets better with time hence it took me long to come up with an album but I always had a dream to do something appealing. Since 2002 I have been getting experience from everyone I worked with, perfecting myself because I did not want to just jump into the industry, release one album and run out of ideas. All along I have been curtain raising and being a supporting act on shows, that is where I learnt how the industry works and I have also had a couple of live performances while working at Providence Films. I once shared a stage with Sani Makhalima which was quite an experience,” he said.
From all he has been learning for the past 17 years, the artiste recently released his first album which is a fusion of all the music genres he loves listening to and said he was sure to survive in the dog eat dog industry where only the fit can survive.
“This year I felt like I have gathered all I need to know hence I can be my own person now, I dropped a single in June titled Nguwe Na and it hit the top 20 chart on Skyz Metro Fm and has been played there for the past three months, that encouraged me to finish the whole album which I released this month. The album is a fusion of three of my best music genres and I named it Afro-soul-funk. I used personal experiences to come up with my songs, all my songs are about love so it is also a concept most people can easily relate to.”
“The album title is Timeless Classics, I came up with this title because I do not want my music to be played for the moment and lose its momentum hence I made sure it is relevant in the present and in the future. The album has 11 tracks namely Uyang’phatha kahle, Let’s do what we do, Nguwe na, Run away from love ,Ng’bekithemba kuwe, Don’t take your love away, Uyang’phatha kahle (remake), On the dance floor, Let’s do what we do featuring Nateoktopus, Nguwe na (remake) and Don’t take your love away (original),” said Chibona-Kampila.
