USA’S RAPSODY, LLOYISO AMONG MANANA’S ALBUM SONGWRITERS

MBABANE – Local Grammy Award-winning musician Ndumiso Manana had SA musician Lloyiso and New York rapper Rapsody write some songs on his new album.

The new album ‘Our Broken Hearts Mend’ was released on August 16 and has 16 tracks. Marlanna Evans, better known by her stage name Rapsody, is an American rapper.
After signing with music producer 9th Wonder’s music label, It’s a Wonderful World Music Group, she released a series of mixtapes and collaborated with Erykah Badu and Talib Kweli.
Loyiso Gijana, professionally known as Lloyiso, is a South African singer-songwriter and producer. Born and raised in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, Lloyiso developed musical interest at the age of 12 and contested on Idols SA season 11 in 2015.

Worth mentioning is the fact that he visited the kingdom this year and performed on the main stage at this year’s MTN Bushfire Festival. According to Manana, he is grateful to have worked with such huge names in writing some of the songs for the album, as he took to his Instagram page to appreciate the artists. “Years in the making, it’s yours for the taking. Thanks to these incredible souls for their work and contributions. I am truly honoured to work with people I admire. Please stream and buy the project wherever you like to do so. Let the mending begin,” Manana said.

Excited

Rapsody, a three-time Grammy Award nominee, also shared some words on behalf of the new project, citing that Manana has beautiful taste in words. “Your way with words is gorgeous. Excited to be able to be of service to your art,” Rapsody said.  The American musician wrote the songs titled ‘When I see you’ and ‘See what I see’, where she is also featured. Other prominent writers who contributed to the new album include Dayyon Alexander, Ariza, Ehren Ebbage, Bubele Booi, David Balshaw, Solace and Thando Zide. After seeing the list of prominent songwriters, South African Rowlene, who has collaborated with Nasty C on the hit ‘SMA’, labelled Manana’s album as one of the decade. “This is the album of the decade,” Rowlene said when commenting on Manana’s post.

Manana has been spreading his wings even further over the past few months, as he has been receiving various recognitions from esteemed companies. The musician was also added to the Spotify radar programme, which was created nearly four years ago. The programme is dedicated to bringing rising talent to the forefront globally, showcasing what will be next in sound and lifting artists by helping them expand their global reach on their path to superstardom. The musician was also a part of this year’s MTN Bushfire Festival line-up through his band, Seba Kaapstad. The trio’s performance was a crowd-puller, as fans flocked to the stage during their ground-breaking renditions at the festival.

Sensation

After releasing the new album, Manana made it to the Times Square billboards.  Worth mentioning, is the fact that he is now the second local artist to make it to Times Square billboards, as Amapiano sensation Uncle Waffles debuted last year after releasing her album titled ‘Asylum’.  These billboards are seen by millions of people all over the world, making them an incredibly valuable advertising space.  A number of international musicians have been featured on the billboards, and they include Canadian rapper Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce, to name a few.  When artists are featured on these billboards, their brands are exposed to the whole world and they get more streams of their music, as fans follow these billboards to get updated on new music.More musicians are expected to benefit from international collaborations in the kingdom. This is enshrined in the Eswatini National Arts and Culture Policy, chapter seven, where it addresses creative cultural industries.

Investment

According to the policy, investment will be sought to take local music to the international market.  “Investment will be sought to enable the development, recording, publishing and marketing of Swati music at home and in the international market,” reads the policy.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: