Jah Prayzaha��s zim kalawa vision

Bruce Ndlovu
With controversy seemingly engulfing Andy Muridzo, one of the artistes that he signed to his label, attention seems to have been drifting away from Jah Prayzaha��s Military Touch stable.

Only a few days after the announcement of the roster of artistes on the Mdhara Vachauya hit-makera��s new stable, Muridzoa��s Bev inspired controversy burst through to prick the bubble of excitement that had been popped up after Prayzaha��s announcement of his blockbuster stable.

The label which is set to be officially launched in February has already signed four artistes namely, Nutty O, Robin, ExQ and Muridzo while DJ Tamuka is also part of the operation.

With Muridzo already offering fresh headaches to the management of the new label, some might already have begun to wonder how the Military Touch leadership would keep its troops in line.

However, despite the early bump in the journey, Prayzah and his team envision a stable to rival South Africaa��s Kalawa Jazmee in future.

That label is headed by Oscar Oskido Mdlongwa and he has over the years begun to change the stereotype that artistes cannot head high profile labels. As an ambitious go-getter that he is known to be in music circles, Prayzah is looking to walk in such illustrious shoes, albeit south of the Limpopo.

a�?Right now we are starting out but we hope that in time we should have more industry heavyweights on the stable. The plan is to make Military Touch,A� a home that offers everyone a good environment to give their creative best,a�? said Prayzah managera��s Keen Mushapaidze.

He went on to say he did not see any obstacles stopping Prayzaha��s plan to establish a super label.

a�?As far as I know Jah has no beefs with anyone in the industry. He has never had any feuds or had serious fights with anyone so I dona��t know how artistes in the industry wouldna��t want to work with him. And that is in essence our plan,a�? he said.

One thing that has defined Kalawaa��s stay on top of the record label food chain has been the ability to house varied and uniquely talented artistes under one stable.A� According to Mushapaidze, this is a mantra that Prayzah is also trying to follow with Military Touch.

a�?The idea was never about bringing artistes from one genre together. Ita��s all about bringing talented, like minded artistes so that they can give the best of their talents to Zimbabwe and beyond because our vision extends far beyond what we can do at home,a�? he said.

Labels headed by artistes have a tendency to go wrong, with critics of such a model arguing that active artistes tend to take care of their career first and ignore the rest.

However, Mushapaidze does not foresee that happening at Military Touch, although he accepts that clashes in the music industry are inevitable.

a�?Disagreements are there and we cana��t say we know what will happen in future. People disagree and there are bound to be squabbles on any label but it all depends on how the people involved handle it.

a�?If the artistes share a similar vision and want the best for the label and their careers I think things will be resolved,a�? he said.