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WE knew we were going to court controversy and there would be a lot of angry people unhappy with our lead article in yesterday’s newspaper.
We knew that anything that questioned the brilliance of someone like Alick Macheso was always going to be controversial and it was likely to provoke some negative reactions towards us.
We knew that Macheso has a huge army of die-hard fans who will never tolerate a situation where their hero’s work is criticised for one reason or another.
We knew this was likely to strain our relationship with the sungura superstar which, until now, has been a cordial one in which we have always respected his legendary status and he has always respected our work.
But, we also knew that we had to ask the tough question – IS MACHESO NOW A SPENT FORCE?
Is he someone who reached the peak of his musical career a long time ago and is now just feasting on what he caught in the past?
We asked if the sungura superstar can produce another album which will be closer, or better than, his yesteryear hits which made him one of the country’s greatest musicians?
We asked if he is now just living on past glory and, like Dynamos in football, has lost the touch which made him such a superstar?
There have already been mixed feelings over his new album ‘Kupa Kuturika,’ whose first three songs were released in the past few days.
The six-track album was launched last Friday at Alex Sports Club and Macheso only introduced one song at the show.
This is the 13th album which the King of Sungura has released.
There has been a steady stream of complaints from some of his die-hard fans that his latest project, like many he has released in the recent past, is not up to the standards they expected from him.
As a newspaper, it is our job to capture those sentiments because that is precisely our role, even if doing so might compromise our relationship with Macheso and some of his die-hard fans.
Capturing those sentiments doesn’t, in any way, suggest that we are belittling Macheso’s status as a legend.
We are not disputing that because no one can dispute that.
What we are just doing is to point out the reality that the products, which Macheso has been offering, in recent years, are not up to the standards that he set in the past.
We did not set those standards.
It was Macheso, through his brilliance, who set those standards for himself and his fans.
The responsibility is for him to try and match those standards and if he is going to do that we will be using the same spaces to salute him for his artistry.
Macheso remains a living legend.
His challenge is to try and find the path which led him to such mega hits like Shedia and, once he does that, we will join everyone in congratulating him for a job well done.
Online Reporter