Umodzi Park, the organisers of the recently failed Dru Hill concert, are working on the next course of action, following a move by the show’s promoter to sue them.

The American multi platinum all boy band was scheduled to perform in Lilongwe on December 12, but the show was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

The cancellation followed disagreements between South African based promoter Tigere Media and the group, according to a statement released hours before the show.

Dru Hill was also billed to perform in South Africa on the 18 as well as Ghana but all the shows were cancelled.

On Friday, the promoter, Archie Tigere released a statement in which among others, confirmed having an agreement with Umodzi Park to bring Dru Hill to Malawi.

“When Dru Hill didn’t arrive for this performance, I was arrested in Lilongwe – Malawi on Thursday the 10th of December 2015 at Umodzi Park on suspicion of obtaining money using false pretence and fraud.

“Umodzi Park took advantage of my being arrested and ran to the newspapers painting Tigere Media and myself as fraudulent business entity and or a scam of a company thereby deforming my character to save their own faces,” he said.

Tigere claimed if he obtained money using false pretence and that Dru Hill was not going to travel, he would not have come to Malawi to prepare for them.

“If I lied that Tigere Media were in contact with Dru Hill group for this performance, why on earth would Dru Hill themselves announce the Malawi – Umodzi Park gig via a video  on YouTube?

“The moment I got confirmation that Dru Hill did not travel, I was already at Umodzi Park, I called for an urgent meeting with all the people involved at Umodzi Park to plan and see if we could salvage something, if I was dodgy, was this not my time to run instead of calling for an urgent meeting?” he wondered.

The statement also confirmed his release on Wednesday, December 16.

But in an interview today, Umodzi Park’s Managing Director Neal Sewnarain said they will make their position on the matter soon.

“All contractual agreements we’re met by Tigere. We have full and hard writing as well as recorded evidence that all our [Umodzi Park] contractual obligations were met and on time.

“We spoke with the Dru Hill guys in American and they confirmed not being paid money from our side. Malawi’s cancelling was as a result of the failure of the show in South Africa and Ghana,” said Sewnarain.

Gospel music star, Steve Muliya has cast a disapproval card on the tendency of sharing stage with secular musician by some of his colleagues in the good news field.

Of late, the country has witnessed the mushrooming of gospel music shows being curtain-raised by secular musicians and poets.

But to Muliya, the growing tendency is diluting gospel music, which he referred to as a ministry.

“There is no way we can take on stage someone who does secular music to do gospel. All we need to do is to preach to them; let them change and let them get transformed before they preach to anyone through music.

“The bible says ‘how can they preach if they haven’t heard’, so first let them hear the word then they stand on the pulpit or stage.

“To me, I don’t think it’s good, it’s like we are diluting the gospel music now. Gospel music is ministry, art and ministry are too different things; singing or worshiping is a ministry which starts with you receiving Jesus Christ first,” said Muliya.

He stressed: “It’s a personal stand that we do not dilute the word of God for the sake of making money.”

Meanwhile, Muliya says he will be re-launching his ‘Wazisomo’ album with a tour of various venues across Malawi.

President Peter Mutharika and the First Lady, Gertrude Mutharika on Tuesday hosted a children’s Christmas Party at the Sanjika Palace in Blantyre.

The hundreds of children who attended the State House Christmas party were drawn from different churches and organizations in Blantyre City.

Activities started in the morning with children singing songs, reciting poems and Biblical verses and some of the children enjoyed games in a giant inflatable kid playground at the State House.

Speaking in his question and answer to the children, Mutharika advised the children that education was the key to success if they were to achieve their dreams.

“Every job ranging from cook, driver, carpenter, president among other good jobs, requires education and you children have to emulate this if you are to succeed.

“Yes, we are having a Christmas party here but the true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus and this is the time to reflect on many things in our lives.

“As Children, you are supposed to love one another always and respect your parents in your day- to- day-life,”Mutharika said, adding that people needed to emulate the love of Jesus Christ who died on the cross.

The Malawi leader and the First Lady also took their time to dance with the children to different songs.

During the function, the First Couple presented several Christmas gifts to the children.

Mercy Nkhoma who spoke on behalf of her fellow children, commended the First Couple for hosting the Christmas party, saying it had motivated many children to work hard to become Malawi’s president one day.

Nkhoma said the Christmas party had also given children an opportunity to know and interact with the president and the First Lady of this country.

“We only see you our president on television screens and hear your voice through radios and this is a rare opportunity for us invited here,” she said.

In December last year, the First Couple also hosted a Children’s Christmas Party at the Kamuzu Palace, in Lilongwe.

Young Africans aspiring to become music stars will very soon have a big platform to grow their talent and get exposure to the whole world as the Jamaica’s music group, Morgan Heritage promises to bring their Cool To Be Conscious (CTBC) Music company to the continent of Africa.

The Royal Family of Reggae, Morgan Heritage has made a big promise of bringing their CTBC Music Group saying the band has special mission in Africa focusing on unearthing and grooming music talent in Africa and introduce it to the World.

“We want to bring our music company CTBC music Group to Africa.” Disclosed Peter ‘Peetah’ Morgan the group’s vocalist.

He explained; “It will be CTBC International. So we want to search for talent across the continent of Africa that means talent here in Malawi, talent in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and wherever (in Africa) and help develop talent of Africa.

“We have realized that Reggae has made its home here in Africa and people of Africa love Reggae music. And there are a lot of youths growing up in Africa today that want to do Reggae music, want to do Dancehall music and want to do Afro-Beat music. So we want to develop these talents and help to present these young people who aspire to be artist to the World. So that is one of our missions with our CTBC music Group.”

He further explained that Cool To Be Conscious means “being Conscious is a new Cool” so the group wants to embark upon the youths of Africa and make them know and say “Consciousness is the way to the future and encourage them to be conscious in whatever they are doing.

Commenting on the same, his brother Gramps added by emphasising that CTBC music group is going to help highlight African artists not only to be big in Africa but across the globe whether in Jamaica, New York or Europe “and this is the mission of Cool To Be Conscious”

“Everybody wants the best, and within our music we will continue to bring the best. And when we search the talent within Africa we are only looking the best.” Said Gramps and added that CBTC music is a place for only those people who have talent to sing

“Believe in yourself, be strong and Invest in your talent and practice, practice, practice” he said

Marvel At Malawi’s Beauty And Love for Africa

Gramps Morgan said the family was so happy to be in Malawi the land which he said is endowed with beautiful nature and have understood why the country is called the ‘Warm Heart of Africa.’

The Keyboardist and vocalist for the group, Gramps further said it was also exciting to be in Africa which he expressed it as “coming back home” after so many years of performing in Europe, Caribbean and North American countries.

“We have always had desire to come to Africa and we have toured so many parts of the World especially Europe and Caribean and North America and we are finally getting a chance for the past three to five years to focus on coming back home which is Africa.” He said

“Africa is home to us and everywhere we go in Africa we say we are home.” Added his brother, Peetah while his brother Mojo who was once in the country some months ago cemented this comment from his two brothers by saying  “We as a family have a desire to come back to Africa, to come back home and establish ourselves as musicians and entrepreneurs so that we give back to this beautiful continent.”

Gramps also on behalf of the group encouraged Malawian fans to be strong and believe in themselves. He further thanked Malawi fans for supporting their music for years.

When Malawi’s entertainment sector is wining a battle against CD mimicking during live shows, the Jamaican reggae outfit Morgan Heritage had to import the same dying culture all the way from Jamaica at a whooping Mk10, 000

On Monday, Malawians woke up to a social media foul-cry from those who attended of a Reggae Royal Family that did not display any honour on stage.

 Reports suggests, Morgan Heritage reached the extent of playing the CD’s without even singing, a development that has seen some Malawians taking their frustrations into the group’s twitter account handle @morganheritage

Few months prior to the Sunday performance in Lilongwe, the group’s envoy Mojo Morgan promised to out-do the performance of a Jamaican duo Luciano and Busy Signal, who performed in Lilongwe and and Salima, respectively.

Mojo was quoted as saying: “Luciano is a singer. Busy Signal is just a DJ, while Morgan Heritage in a musical band. While we are not coming into Malawi to compete against anybody, but one can’t compare a singer, a DJ and a musical band.”

But few hours after their show, most Malawians who have taken to the social media feel Luciano and Busy Signal were far much better than them.

The music show was highly publicized by the organisers through the local media but Malawians saw the opposite of what was being said prior to the event.

Malawi’s Black Missionaries performed live as a supporting artist.

Morgan Heritage is a reggae band formed in 1994 by five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan, namely Peter “Peetah” Morgan, Una Morgan, Roy “Gramps” Morgan, Nakhamyah “Lukes” Morgan and Memmalatel.

They are yet to make an official response on the blame.

After going through the events surrounding the issue of Morgan Heritage and their show, I have now accepted that I have been fooled and I need also to accept that I need to blame myself to a larger extent for failure to think, analyze and make a sound decision before buying a ticket. Analysis of the following would have helped me deciding better:

1. There was silence on whether they will use a CD or live playing of musical instruments when I know these all happens.

Renowned music promoter, Jai Banda, has distanced himself from the wholesale blame for organizing the 27 December Morgan Heritage show at Silver Stadium, which turned out to be a flop.

Responding on a social media conversation on the show, Banda said:

“I was only hired to supply the equipment. I was not part of the organizers of bringing Morgan Heritage to Malawi and was not even aware they would use a CD. I was supplied with a technical Ryder of the instruments they required and I did my best to comply. I have not had any complaints about the equipment by either Morgan Heritage or those who hired me. The organisers of the show had a choice to use any equipment they had wanted but they chose mine. In fact if they had hired Mibawa’s or ‘Lemme s would you also have blamed the owners of those equipments. Your finding that I am also to blame is therefore unfounded.”

Jai Banda also disagreed with the notion that the stage’s small size hindered Morgan Heritage from performing well. He said:

“…on the issue of the size of the stage and that you have seen them perform and they move a lot and the stage would have been too small for them is also not true. I have equally watched them on TV and your conclusion is not true. The stage could (not) have stopped them from performing.”

Banda finally invited Malawians to a show on December 31st where the true meaning of “live performance” would be appreciated by all:

“All in all our equipment is good, our stage is good, Ngati analephera a Morgan Heritage analephera okha. Do not blame Team Entertainers. Incidentally come to Lilongwe Golf Club on Thursday 31 st December. No artist is going to perform using a CD.”

Entertainers  Promoters recently organized a Phungwe! show on December 24th 2015 where Sir Lucius Banda protested against the gay movement in Malawi by abandoning the stage after two mercenary gays were spotted kissing each other in the audience.

As a way of giving back to those people who have rallied behind the company for the past  5 years, Mingoli promotions have organized a show Dubbed Gospel by the Legends to be held on 1 January  2016 at Sheaffer Gardens in Lilongwe.

Speaking in an interview Mingoli promotions Manager, Peter Mlangeni said all the artists have confirmed their presence on the day and have promised fireworks and electrifying show.

“I would like to assure Malawians that all the musicians have confirmed their presence and that they have promised to perform to the best of their ability”. He said

Mlangeni has also urged Malawians to come and celebrate will Mingoli promotions saying they will not regret as preparations are underway.

During the show Vetelan musician Sir Paul Banda will share stage with Overton Chimombo, Billy Kaunda, Lucius Banda, Mlaka Maliro, Benadetta Maliro, Favoured Martha, Peter Sambo, Kamuzu Barracks Gospel Singers, Isaac Liwotcha, Sengabay CCAP Singers and many others.

The show is scheduled to start at 10 o’clock in the morning with only K1500 as an entry fee per head.

Mingoli promotions started way back in 2010 with the aim of promoting artists especially musicians and for the past 5 years it has organized successful Gospel concert and shows across Malawi.

Musician Duncan Gwamba Zgambo Wrote:

I would like to announce that from now onwards I will be making music for the Lord and I will have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with secular music. The Lord has been amazing to me and I am a sinner, this is the least I can do for God. I hope you will still support me and may the grace of God be with you in return. I love you all and thank you so much for taking me this far, now it’s time for God to take me further.

Born Afrikan manager for Born Afrikan Productions has just announced today on his Facebook page of the coming back to Malawi, The Royal Family of Reggae, Morgan Heritage.

Reads the announcement; “Born Afrikan Productions presents “The Music Unite Festival”on the 30th of April, Performing Morgan Heritage, Born Afrikan…MK8,000 tickets no VIP. See you soon. Mission Possible.
The date for the show is confirmed although the venue is not yet known but, Born Afrika says they are hoping to use the same venue, Silver Stadium, in the capital city, Lilongwe.
Confirming the development in an interview, Born Afrikan said the ‘Music Unite Festival ‘ on 30th April is a continuation from the similar festival held in March last year.
“We are continuing from where we started last year in March. When Luciano came it was Music Unites Festival and it’s music of different genres coming together.” said Born Afrikan.
He confirmed that this time around as it was promised by Morgan Heritage, the full band is definitely coming but it is “only Morgan Heritage” band coming from Jamaica then further disclosed; “But we have some Malawi artists based in South Africa that might not be known here but will come to perform, that’s besides myself.”

One of the renowned local artist which Born Afrika mentioned to be on board is Tay Grin.
Unlike the last show, the gate price has been slashed from K10,000 to K8000. According to Born African, this decision is meant to accommodate everyone to enter the show.

“We want to allow a lot of people to come; the rich and poor” he said also confirming that the 30th April music festival will have no VIP section  “VIP was complicated to manage last time until we find a good way of maintaining it”

The Malawian but based in South Africa, Born Afrika has also told fans to expect new songs from him when he will be performing at the show, “Yes I have over fifty recorded songs that have not been released and every given chance I’ll be slowly introducing them to my fans”

Some of the new songs he said will perform on 30th April include; Muzataya Womwetamweta, Born Again, What Can You Tell Me Mr Politician, Tisayiwale, Woman I’m Sorry and many more.

Morgan Heritage came and performed for the very first time to Malawi audience without using musical instruments and instead they performed to the full packed stadium using instrumental tracks played from the laptop.
The Group told fans who felt letdown that they could have not come with the full band due to some challenges which saw them cancel shows in Zimbabwe and Senegal.

But the group promised to come back this year for a “Big” festival with the whole band and that that night performance was just an “appetizer” because they wanted to come to Malawi “by all means necessary”
2016 will probably be a year full of entertainment following news that Jamaican Artists Judy Boucher on Valentines and Busy Signal in April. And the news of Morgan Heritage coming back to Malawi is getting good response from those who have seen the Facebook post of Born Afrikan

The ‘Ndikuoneni’ hit-maker Limbani Simenti is back with second album ‘Gwada Upemphere’, and he disclosed, on Friday, that he got inspiration to compose some of the songs from State President Peter Mutharika.

“There are a lot of things that prompted me to compose most of the songs in the album. For instance, there was a statement from His Excellency the President (Peter Mutharika) and I quote; I am deeply shocked by the killings and abductions of people with albinism’ that statement drove me into some sort of inspiration where I could say let me take my position. If the Head of State has done this, why not me?” said Simenti.

He said time has come for gospel artists to voice for those that are failing to capture the Gospel because of some physical predicament they are in.

According to the gifted singer, the 12 track album ‘Gwada upemphere’ contains varied messages: “but the central point is Gwada upemphere because after analyzing the music, I saw the solution is just to tell someone that you kneel down and pray.”

Some of the songs in the album are ‘Bwanji Mulowelerepo’ which is talking about a child who was born in prison and is spending life in prison for the wrongs of the mother and the child is taking God to task on why He is allowing all that.

According to the singer, Bwanji Mulowelerepo is talking about prison in both its literal and poetic sense.

“There are kids living with HIV when they did not commit adultery, so I feel it’s a prison for them too,” he said.

Malawi’s leading reggae band has fired Takudziwani and Paul Chokani for allegedly being behind the resurrection of Evison Matafele’s primary backers, Wailing Brothers.

Takudziwani, lead guitarist and Paul, percussionist are cousins to the Fumulanis, who are the majority stakeholders in the Black Missionaries, a music enterprise founded by Matafale after disbanding the Wailing Brothers soon after the Kuimba 1 project.

Sources say band leader Anjiru Fumulani has not been happy with the Chokani duo’s recent moves.

Ironically, both Chokani brothers and Anjiru have always been claiming in the press that the resurrection of Wailing Brothers was not a sign of things falling apart in Black Missioneries.

Versatile vernacular poet Robert Chiwamba has released two pieces, registering his disapproval on the suggestions from some quarters for the country to legalise same sex marriages.

Chiwamba has followed other influential artists such as musician cum politician Lucious Banda and the Chileka based reggae band Black Missionaries, who have all spoken against the move.

Announcing the release of ‘Takana Mathanyula (we say no to homosexuality)’ and ‘Zikomo kwambiri (Thanks alot), on Friday, Chiwamba said the poems will be shared for free using whatsapp and other mediums.

According to the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College trained poet, ‘Takana Mathanyula’ “is a clear demonstration of the general public’s view on the issue”

“It also comprises arguments on why Gays ought not be legal in the country,” he said.

While ‘Zikomo kwambiri’ is a poem which is adoring African leaders who have stood firm against recognising gays.

Among others, ‘Zikomo Kwambiri’ is showering praises on Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Museveni, Uhuru Kenyatta, Yahya Jammeh and the late Bingu wa Mutharika.

Meanwhile, the Blantyre Senior Resident Magistrate Peter Kandulu on Thursday discontinued a case in which politician Ken Msonda was being accused of inciting people to kill homosexuals.

Malawi Government, through its Director of Public Prosecution Mary Kachale entered discontinuance of the case pursuant to Section 77 (1) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code. Publicity and Administrative Secretary Ken Msonda was being accused of inciting people to ‘kill homosexuals’. The state, through Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mary Kachale entered discontinuance of the case in pursuant to Section 77 (1) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code.

Nde’feyo Entertainment R&B/Afro-pop artist Bucci will be releasing a mixtape called “Worth the Wait” towards the end of February.

Excitement is looming to see Bucci uncover his creativity, magnificent diversity and talent as he sets off his career under the label which signed him in 2014.

“Worth the Wait”, to be officially launched at the Bassment Club in Blantyre on February 27, features Daredevilz, who are also behind production of some tracks, Home Grown African, members of Classmates and Street Fame.

The 20-track mixtape also boasts of productions from top Malawian urban music producers including Tricky Beatz, Yesaya, Black Eye, Gaffer and Bucci himself.

The concept behind “Worth the Wait” (WTW) is not about creating anticipation for his upcoming album per se, it is more about a futuristic twisted concept about life as a journey in general. Life throws roses and thorns at us all as human beings; with that said every person has a 50-50 chance of success or failure. So, life is basically waiting for our arrival based on the odds. Thereby the mixtape focuses on motivating everyone to make that wait worth it.

It contains breathtaking R&B, afro pop and a feel of house/dancehall music that will keep fans off their feet everywhere. “Worth the Wait” has a very interesting vibe that appeals to both young and old people.

Meanwhile, not to keep his fans ‘waiting’ for long, Bucci has added flavor to their playlists with the release of the mixtape’s first track titled “MCM”. The song went on radio Monday and is also available for downloads online: http://www.malawi-music.com/B/351-bucci/1369-mcm/3703-mcm.

According to Nde’feyo, they have scheduled to release three more tracks ahead of the mixtape launch.

“We will be putting out a new single every Friday for the next three weeks,” revealed the stable’s marketing executive Funwayo Mhango. “The next track on the list is Dinero, which will be followed by Don’t Be Late then Kadigong’o”

Bucci is one multi-talented artist whose occupations also include songwriting, choreography, music production and clothing designing. He started his music career as a lead singer in G-Soldiers and BBM Clique. While in G-Soldiers, Bucci participated in the Sprite Dance Competition and won first position in Malawi and went to represent the country in Zimbabwe at the final where they came second.

In 2012 he was signed to Transformers Music, where he officially started working with producer Percy Manyozo at Pro-Pee Records. He released three singles in 2013 titled Umbombo, Zitiyendela ft. Young Kay and Ngati Maloto, which saw him get a lot of people’s attention and earned him a deal at Nde’feyo Entertainment in 2014.

Bucci has worked as a backup singer for Armstrong, Pisky, Wendy Harawa and Lulu. He was also lead vocalist for the defunct Maziko Band. He has shared stages with Theo Thomson, Lucius Banda, Naeto C, Ice Prince, Tay Grin, Oga Family, Armstrong, Pisky, Maskal, Gwamba and others.

Under Nde’feyo Entertainment, Bucci still continues to work with his crew Classmates. He was voted the best R&B artist 2014, best dressed artist 2013 and has been named the “hook master” by the public. Bucci is currently working on his album under Nde’feyo.

The self-made Nyau King, Tay Grin has launched a comeback bid with a new song ‘Chipapapa’, which he featured Nigerian music maestro 2 Baba, formerly known as 2 Face.

The song, produced by Lilongwe’s Chit-Chat Records producer DJ Sley, is titled “Chipapapa”.

“The time you have been anxiously waiting for has finally come. I promised you I was working on some bangers and that this year would be fire. The countdown has began and very soon you shall hear “Chipapapa” featuring the legendary @official2baba,” the Nyau King revealed on his Facebook page.

The award-winning artist added: “I can’t wait for you guys to listen to this track.”

Tay Grin told Malawi Voice in an interview on Wednesday that the song will be available on all major continental radio stations and online music download websites.

He further revealed the two will be working on a music video next month, saying “soon it will be on all major TV channels.”

Tay Grin said working with the legendary Nigerian musician was a great honour.

“He is an African legend I am proud to call my brother. We have known each other for ages and to finally work on a song we are both proud of is amazing.

“He has always been an inspiration to me and has always encouraged me to follow my dreams as an artist, so to do my first comeback song with him is just perfect,” explained Nyau King.

Tay Grin said Chipapapa was just the start as he has other major collaborations and videos on the way. He further disclosed there will be “massive concerts” this summer.

‘Lilongwe’, a movie that entails a story of a 13-year old girl, who later grows into a beautiful young woman who is still haunted by her past, scooped the Best Actress Award at the Shungu Namutitima Film Festival in Zambia last year.

However, actress Joyce Mhango Chavula became aware of the good news only this Wednesday, that she got information pertaining.

Mhango Chavula explained that she had sent the film for possible screening but never got any feedback. The information about the festival was received through Arterial Network and only African films go into the competition as an international festival.

“Maybe I missed it until now when the festival director wrote me asking if we received the award yet,”

“Although late but I am excited that I have got the first international award for the film. This simply gives me strength to push further and do better. And this is also encouraging for Brenda as an actress,” said Mhango Chavula.

The vice president of National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) and Film Association of Malawi (Fama) said she was now following up with them to make sure that the award gets to them.

Meanwhile Mhango Chavula is still calling for more votes from Malawians to do well in the AMVCAs.

Mhango Chavula received a nomination in one of the newly introduced categories – Best Movie for Southern Africa.

The nominees were announced late last year and the public voting opened immediately after the announcement and closes on February 26, 2016.

Mhango Chavula faces competition from Sara Bletcher for her movie titled ‘Ayanda’ and Akin Omotosho’s ‘Tell Me Something’.