NDINI MUKUDZEI, PRODUCT OF SOUL SEARCHING AND SELF DISCOVERY

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With Ndini Mukudzei, Jah Prayzah has introduced himself.


Sounds unfair, right, for an artist who has been in the game since 2007, won numerous awards and most importantly, has won the hearts of many.


I have been wondering too. In fact torn between whether Jah Prayzah is  reintroducing himself or reminding us who is.


It downed on me, Eureka style, that he is neither reintroducing himself nor reminding us who is.


He is introducing himself. 


Ndini Mukudzei is not just an album. It is a statement. Both a personal and musical one.


It is an identity confirmation that, you may have known me since Rudo Nerunyararo in 2007 as Jah Prayzah, but, “I am Mukudzei.


But, also, it is an affirmation, rather than a claim, that musically, I am King of the traditional sound.


Ndini Mukudzei is a confirmation of one who has discovered himself after years of soul searching, jumping from one sound to another, to finally find his place of comfort, the traditional sound!


Jah Prayzah is an experimental artist. 

A fortunate one for that matter because every beat he tries turns into gold.


But, perhaps the height of his experimental nature is the release of two Albums in one go, Maita Baba  and Chiremerera.


A project of identity ambiguity , that stamped him as one of the finest despite the “who am I” crisis musically.


Whilst both albums did very well, it is  fact not fiction that Chiremerera was ahead of Maita Baba.


Perhaps, it is the success of Chiremerera over Maita Baba that became Jah Prayzah’s damascene moment, answering the “who am I” question into, Ndini Mukudzei (I am Mukudzei).


The spiritual aspect and traditional sound that dominates Ndini Mukudzei is a pointer to what Jah Prayzah has always pointed us to all this time through songs like Goto, Ticheneke and Chiremerera: I am Mukudzei, master of the traditional sound.


Ndini Mukudzei almost throws you into a trance. And that’s what we know him for. He is spiritual. He is soulful. He is ecstatic . You simply can’t ignore him. 


He is here. Son of Makombe, descendant of Mwendamberi. Time to honour him.

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