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Langalakhe Mabena
When Jah Prayzah released the music video for his Dzamutsana track two years ago, many hailed him for accurately telling an African royal story through the visuals which they shot in Binga.

The man behind the visuals, multi-award-winning video director Vusa “Umsebenzi ka Blaqs” Hlatshwayo undeniably did justice to the script and cinematography, with seasoned fashion designer Thembani Mubochwa also delivering through costumes which complemented the story well.

Two years down the line, the same crew combined forces again for yet another classic traditional music video, this time for the song Mwana WaMambo.

The visual piece which was released on YouTube last Monday, illustrates the struggles of a young lad who has for long wished to marry the King’s precious daughter yet he is not of the royal blood. In the name of love, he defies all odds and proposes to the King’s daughter and wins her heart.

Unlike Dzamutsana which was shot in Binga, Mwana WaMambo was shot in Selous at Pamuzinda Safari Lodge with other scenes shot at Mukuvisi Woodlands, a critical skill by Vusa Blaqs of capturing visuals on a model environment (lodge) and edit it to look more vintage.

A closer look at the music video shows that the county’s wildlife tourism was promoted as giraffes, Zebras, Wildebeests to mention a few, can be seen on the video.

The video which has generated close to half a million views on YouTube in just one week after its release, has come under criticism. Many are questioning why the production crew stuck to the same script that was used on Dzamutsana.

Responding to this, Jah Prayzah’s manager, Keen Mushapaidze said: “The script of the video was written by Jah Prayzah himself in line with the thematic requirements of the song. The song is about a young man who wants to marry the King’s daughter yet he doesn’t qualify as he’s not of royal bloodline.

“There’s no other way the story could have been told besides providing a setup of an African royal family and its characters. Of course some can say we repeated the Dzamutsana script, but this was the best way we could tell the Mwana WaMambo story through visuals,” said Mushapaidze.

When shooting a music video, costumes are critical and Jah Prayzah through help from Mubochwa, seems to have mastered this as he never disappoints in that area. For this video, Jah Prayzah paid the designer US$6 500 for all the casts’ outfits, with the one worn by Jah Prayzah costing US$1 500, proof that fashion designers can make a living through their creativity.

On the inspiration of the designs, Mubochwa said: “When designing an outfit, one follows the theme of the event and in this case, I followed the script of the song, which made me settle for traditional gear that would make it easy to sell the African culture to the world.

“This video was all about royal family power so I had to look for specific brown furs from different animals and combined them to make one finished product that would be worn by royalty.”

He challenged musicians to take designers seriously as they are the ones who complete their image and make their visuals stand out.

“For all of the outfits on the video, Jah (Prayzah) paid US$6 500 in cash and I’m sharing this information so as to inspire fellow musicians to follow in his footsteps and do things professionally. Everyone must get their piece of cake in the showbiz sector,” said Mubochwa.

Veteran actors like Charles Kapfupi (who once played Wakanaka on Studio 263) and Daniel Tapera who played the character of the King on the video, both said they were happy to feature on the Mwana WaMambo video.

“Jah Prayzah is on another level. He’s a very humble young man who always brings a vibe on set every time. I met him way back before he was famous and his progress in the music industry impresses me,” said Kapfupi.

He said Jah Prayzah’s team behind the scenes is what the Zimbabwean film industry needs because everything was professional.

“The designer would complete a design on set in less than 10 minutes and you’d be dressed with satisfaction,” said Kapfupi.

Fans of the musician, Mushapaidze said should be on the lookout for another video that will come as a surprise before the end of the year. – @langamabena