Jah Prayzah is just unstoppable!

Fred Zindi Music
I spent last weekend browsing through the latest musical Digital Versatile Discs (DVD’s) on You Tube and came across The Harare International Carnival’s video of Jah Prayzah and his Third Generation Band singing from a lorry in front of a 15 000 strong crowd. The video starts with the song “Tiise Maoko”, then moves to “Chinamira”. After that he sings “Eriza”.All these tunes come from his hot album, “Jerusarema”. There are new songs on the video which I could not identify. I take it this is new material for next year’s album. I am not sure whether the 15 000 people who followed Jah Prayzah on this carnival day came because of him or they just bumped into him and found him irresistible. Credit for bringing the crowd together goes to organisers of the carnival

They say he is the man-of-the moment, suggesting that his importance and popularity is only momentary. I say he is unstoppable. There is endless speculation about his future. The speculation should stop now. Just like his mentor, Dr Oliver Mtukudzi, he is going to carry on non-stop into the future. Very soon we will be calling him Dr Mukudzei Mukombe.

After scooping four awards on the 15th February 2013 at the NAMA awards ceremony in Bulawayo, the vocally and vertically gifted performer is now causing ripples throughout the country and internationally and he needs to be watched very carefully. Not only is he vocally gifted, but he is also mega talented, sincere, articulate, and genuinely loves and appreciates his fans! This guy, quite simply, is smoking hot. In my opinion, this is one artiste who is going to rise and rise if he is handled properly. His manager, Keen Mushapaidze and his advisors have got a job to take care of.

Since scooping five NAMA awards in 2013, Jah Prayzah has not looked back. He has travelled to Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and many other places to give first class performances. He has been well received in all these places and fans in the Diaspora, especially the UK are still talking about him. They want a come-back show.

Apart from performances, he has received a lot of endorsements from corporate institutions who have sought to use his fame in branding their products and services.

We often see him on stage in army tunic because he is the Zimbabwe Defence Forces’ goodwill ambassador. He is also the brand ambassador for Dream Star Zimbabwe Talent Search. He has appeared on Chicken Slice billboards since that company has also seen it fit to use his fame to market their product. We have also seen billboards showing Population Services International Zimbabwe’s male circumcision campaign. I am told thousands of male Zimbabweans have been circumcised as a result of Jah Prayzah’s help in the campaign. He is also seen in the Mahewu adverts and he has also done a number of jingles for different companies. The list is endless.

Why I say Jah Prayzah will go on forever is based on my experience with musicians of his kind. Dr Mtukudzi, Charles and Olivia Charamba, Leonard Zhakata, Tendai Mupfurutsa and Dr Thomas Mapfumo are examples of people who are or were serious about their careers in music. Jah Prayzah takes his chosen career very seriously. He is humble. He works very hard, He is a disciplined artiste. He does not drink or smoke. He has got his head screwed on.

He invests his money in his chosen career as evidenced by his recent purchase of a recording studio and a P.A. system. He is one man every musician in Zimbabwe would like to do a collaboration song with.

Despite all these achievements, Jah Prayzah has remained level headed unlike some youngsters who with just a bit of fame, become so big-headed and uncontrollable. Even though he faces a lot of difficulties getting privacy, due to his popularity he still manages to be humble among his fans. A lot of his fans expect him to stop and greet them each time he is doing his private business.

In his own words: “I really miss moving around the streets of Harare doing my shopping in broad daylight. Each time I do that, I get swarmed by multitudes of my fans who often jostle for photo shoots with me. I used to enjoy moving around downtown Harare looking at shop displays and the stuff on sale. I really love window shopping but it’s difficult for me now,” he said.

“Not that I am complaining about the fans, not at all! To be where I am it is because of the fans. It just goes on to show that many people appreciate me and my talent. Where and who would I be if they did not support me? I love my fans and I owe them a lot,” he said.

He sure is mentally well-balanced.

There are many commendable characteristics which are attributable to Jah Prayzah’s superstar status. For instance at the Busy Signal concert held at Glamis Stadium last week, Jah Prayzah came on stage after the main attraction of the show, Busy Signal, had completed his set. One would think that the thousands of people who had flocked the venue would go home straight after the main artiste had finished performing, but alas, no. They stayed on at the venue in anticipation of Jah Prayzah’s exhilarating performance.

Another attribute: He could easily pass for a fashion model or a basket ball player. Even the NBA will find him irresistible.

This is how powerful the force of Jah is. Give thanks and praises to the Most High.

His star will rise and rise.

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