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MUSIC-WISE I am a big fan of fusions and one of my best hybrid kinds of music is the ragga/soul or the ragga/hip-hop genre made very popular by the acts like Shabba Ranks, Shaggy, Mad Cobra, Beenie Man as well as the Born Jamericans.
So you can guess my hilarity when I heard that one of the biggest fusion acts in South Africa — Lira (born Lerato Molapo) will be coming to the country in early March.
Lira is one of the best South African acts at the moment playing a fusion of jazz/rhythm and blues as well as soul and has been described as the great hope for South African music by the SA Press.
Lira is expected to play at the Borrowdale Racecourse on March 5 alongside our own Dudu Manhenga as well as Victor Kunonga and the evergreen veterans The Cool Crooners and Jazz Invitation.
This will definitely be a battle of the Limpopo’s divas as the versatile and outstanding Lira is touted by many in her native country as the next Miriam Makeba due to her vocal prowess, musical dexterity, stage presence and charisma.
This will be her first show in Zimbabwe.
Lira is one of South Africa’s most decorated artistes and in her debut year in 2003 she hauled several awards at the South African Music Awards in 2003, among them Rookie of the Year, Best New Artiste, Best Female Artiste, Best R ‘n’ B Video for the hit song Feel Good.
Lira was born in 1979 in the East Rand Daveyton (Ekurhuleni) and her music, according to respected AllMusic Guide, is a sweet mix of afro-jazz, R ‘n’ B and soul among others.
After winning competitions for young singers and songwriters, Lira started performing live at the age of 16, singing both cover versions and self-penned songs.
In 2000 she was discovered by musician and producer Arthur Mafokate, who had her sign with his own record label, 999 Music.
She wrote all the songs on her album that was called All My Love (2003) and released in May 2003.
She left 999 Music and teamed up with keyboardist Victor Mngomezulu, bassist Tshepo Sekele and producer Robin Kohl.
In 2006, her second album, Feel Good, was released and was a bigger success and she received five nominations at the South African Music Awards, that country’s equivalent of the Grammys, and was hailed as a masterpiece.
Dudu Manhenga is also an award-winning and accomplished musician and belongs to that rare class of local music royalty and seeing her perform alongside Lira will be an unforgettable event to most jazz aficionados.
According to Freedom Maziriri, of Freecom Ad — who are organising the concert in partnership with another local company Convex — the Zimbabwean music-loving public should brace themselves for an unforgettable night with some of the region’s best jazz talents.
Meanwhile, I have some very bad news for you folks as one of the country’s finest rappers, producers, radio and club DJs and one the first proponents of the swagger fad, Sooshmatix, is no more after perishing in a car crash in Zambia last month.
Soosh, who was at the time working for top Zambian radio station Hot FM as well as doing consultancy work for several companies in that country, died on the spot when the vehicle he was travelling in was involved in an accident on January 31.
Although the details of the accident are still sketchy, the information I have is that the talented lyricist’s car was involved in a head-on collision with another when the famed DJ was going to work in Lusaka.
Soosh was a laid-back character who was always thinking of his music and his contribution on the local scene will be greatly missed.
I still remember the first time I met Soosh sometime in 2003 when he came to introduce his latest rap group, Mos Yall Def, that was then comprised mainly of college students.
Before that Soosh was a member of the famed Movip Records which during the early 2000s was a major scene on the local hip-hop scene.
The guys, who were based in Braeside then, to an extent helped to shape the genre we now call urban grooves.
Although the group Mos Yall Def didn’t go far after the production of the gem H-Town Girl as several of its members went different ways the productions by Soosh on that record left a lasting impression in many people’s minds.
Besides being a good rapper, Soosh was also a producer beyond excellence as he charted the way forward for many a fledgling group.
He also had what you would call now swagger as he was one of those fashionable cats who were always first in getting the latest fashion in the neighbourhood and didn’t fear to speak his mouth out.
I still remember the legendary beef he had with leading rappers Stunner and XQ during the mid-2000s which were just staple for anyone.
Although the beef wasn’t that nasty or physical what I liked about it was the wit and its somewhat friendly nature.
It’s sad coz I still remember meeting Soosh during one of his visits here and telling me he was on the verge of working with Stunner on collaboration.
Having been part of a local hip-hop collective for about eight years in Zimbabwe he later moved to Zambia to pursue a career in radio.
While in Lusaka, Zambia, Soosh worked as a radio deejay at Hot 87.7 FM, a private radio station, and as a club deejay and emcee.
In 2009 he moved onto the Copperbelt (Kitwe to be exact), where he worked for YAR 89.8 fm, another private radio station, before returning to Hot FM in Lusaka.
Rest in Peace Soosh and you shall always be appreciated.
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