Wordsmith and prominent musician Leonard Karikoga Zhakata has finally named his forthcoming album to be released on 8 July 2016. The 11 track album title is Mutungadzese, and some of the songs on it are Moyo Wekutenda, Tsvimbo Dzehumambo and Zvine Mwaka.
In the song Zvine Mwaka the Zora maestro continues with his theme of encouraging people to remain focused, work hard and not lose hope when they encounter challenging circumstances – a theme carried in many of his previous hits such as Pane Ziya Pane Dovi, Tine Vimbo and many others before it. Zvine mwaka comes with a fast beat which many of Zhakata’s fans have been yearning for, and has proved popular when it was sampled in some pre-release shows.
Zhakata is convinced that the new album will bring back his old charm as he engaged fans on social platforms to fix misgivings from his last release. Speaking in radio interviews ahead of the release, Zhakata has disclosed that his has consulted widely with his fans in coming up with the forthcoming offering.
Businessman Cosmas Daka, known by many as Cossy Rules, who is part of Zhakata’s Album Marketing Team, conceded this is probably the best to come from Zhakata.
“I have had the opportunity to listen to the entire album and I strongly believe it will break records. Zhakata has, like wine, matured with age. The lyrics are evident that the born preacher Zhakata has upped his game, adding some new found knowledge gained from his biblical studies.
The new album is in my opinion a gift from God handed to the nation through Leonard Zhakata”, added Daka.
Loyal Zhakata fans have taken to social media depicting that the album title Mutungadzose meant Zhakata’s album was going to break all national records, but the humble musician said he did not revel in breaking other musicians’ records.
“I am not competing with any other musician, but simply wanting to give my fans, current and prospective, something with a message they will benefit from, packaged in a beat that appeals to many. If in the process I create a new national record, that is God’s will and no one can go against that, but records are created to be broken.
But all I am certainly hoping to achieve is to give my fans something better than I have given them before. It is an effort to continually improve on quality of product”, said the Mugove hit maker.
Although widely known for solo brilliance, Zhakata engaged some little known young artists in what he termed “rare” collaborations. However, he could not be drawn to disclose their as this will come as a surprise at the launch.
Zhakata rose to stardom in 1994 with his smash hit Mugove off the album Maruva Enyika. He broke new ground in the music industry by becoming the youngest and the first Zimbabwean solo musician to sell more than 120 000 copies of an album.
Zhakata’s 21 album follows the highly successful Zvangu Zvaita released in December 2013 which scooped the first and second prizes in the Radio Zimbabwe Coca-Cola 2014 annual top 50 hits with songs ‘Dhonza Makomborero’ and ‘Dollar Boy’ respectively. It remains to be seen if the new album, which has not yet been titled, will be similarly received.