The Sunday News
Vincent Gono, Sunday Life Reporter
A UNITED Kingdom-based sungura outfit that has been making waves with their social commentary laden singles nationally and internationally will be launching its debut album this winter.
The outfit, Kambo Boys is made up of Zimbabweans based in that country who are into music and have been dropping singles — some in English as they seek to attract the market in UK as well launching a ten-track album in July.
The group says they intend to revolutionise sungura by giving it a touch of modernity and in their album they have an English track where they also engaged a rapper.
Our Sunday Life (SL) reporter spoke to Kambo Boys (KB) about their new project and excerpts of the interview are below.
SL: What is the title of the album and why that particular title?
KB: The album title is Tahwinha meaning we have won, it is actually derived from our album title track called Tahwinha, we decided to go with a positive album title, to inspire hope and encourage our fans.
SL: How many tracks does it carry?
KB: The album has 8 tracks, we may push it up to 10. We are in the final stages of making that decision.
SL: What inspired the album?
KB: Our inspiration comes from our day to day living, what we see, what we hear and what we feel. We are just a mirror of what’s going on around us and we try to do that in song.
SL: Who does the compositions of the songs?
KB: We compose the songs as a team. Clive Mono Mukundu who is our producer and the heart of our sound creates all the instruments and the combinations and it seems to be working just like a well-oiled machine.
SL: What genre is the album and why that particular genre?
KB: We do the sungura genre, because that’s what identifies us with our background, the genre has a potential and we want to push it as much as possible. We experimented with a few concepts on this particular album and all is woven around the sungura stem.
SL: Any plans to market it through live shows?
KB: We are going to do live shows this year to promote our album in a few countries including home soil in Zimbabwe. We also have a few videos lined up and I must say we are looking forward to an interesting and groundbreaking time.
SL: Prior to the album how many singles did you have and how were they received?
KB: We did four singles prior to the album, Neko, Larissa, Merry Christmas and Chihera, they were well received and this time we aim to go even stronger. The album is set to drop in June.
SL: Sungura has lived the long taste of time but its fortunes seem to be waning especially in Zimbabwe where Zim dancehall seem to be the music of choice, how prepared are you in the face of such genre competition?
KB: I think it’s an interesting time in the Zimbabwe entertainment circles, it’s good to have so many genres as it creates a diverse arts industry which will benefit the nation, as sungura artistes we don’t feel pressured at all, we are in our own lane that has nothing to do with competition, we have a niche market that has stayed loyal to sungura for years. The genre goes back to the early 70s.
