Chronicle Editor
Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
BULAWAYO based versatile musician Siza Mdlongwa will next month release his much anticipated debut album titled Izingoma Zothando.
Known mostly to be a gospel artiste, Siza Mdlongwa is coming out of his comfort zone and is showing versatility in his career through his recent feature on the song, Umona, with the likes of Madlela Skhobokhobo, Blue Rose, Mcheznana and Basotho.
Siza Mdlongwa said his eight-track album has a mixture of Afro-fusion and Amapiano tracks that he is confident will awe his fans.
“My debut eight track album is now on the verge of release and l hope it will be out by October.
“From the album l am also working on visuals for one or two tracks. The album has some Afro-fusion and Amapiano as an artiste l am not focused on any genre but l just do good music,” said Siza Mdlongwa.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected his career as most plans he had set his eyes on have gone down the drain.
“After my successful live concert DVD recording in November 2019 I was meant to tour the region as I grew the brand.
“A number of projects had been earmarked to take place as apart from the album launch I had additional performances in South Africa and was supposed to stage the album in Zambia as well as in Kenya in 2019,” said Siza Mdlongwa.
The 33-year-old musician started off performing in various singing competitions at school and won quite a number of awards.
Composing songs and singing has always been his passion since childhood drawing inspiration from Msawawa, Mzambiya and Ringo Madlingozi.
Siza Mdlongwa got his first recognition at Family of God church where he was the lead vocalist in a choir and later joined gospel outfit Vocal X in 2015 to polish his music.
In 2018 he went solo, did his first project #SabeloSami which inspired him to do his debut concert in Bulawayo which was a huge success.
As determined as he can be, Mdlongwa has faced quite a number of challenges in the music industry and he considers them worth it as he believes that living your dream is never easy.
“I have had a fair share of stumbling blocks and have won some and lost some but for me the most important thing is fighting all the way. It was never meant to be easy but we keep putting in a fight to win,” he said.
Siza Mdlongwa said if local artistes are to work together in unity and support each other, the corporate world would sponsor the music industry.
“The arts industry is capable of contributing to the country’s GDP and also curb unemployment in the country
“Zimbabwe has got talent, what lacks is the unity of purpose,” said Siza Mdlongwa.
Siza Mdlongwa recently released a song titled ‘Akasabambi ‘Fon’ which he said was inspired by a close friend who received a ‘I can’t do this anymore’ text in the morning.
The song also got it’s inspiration from the current issues related to relationships affecting particularly the youths and has earned the name umjolo the real pandemic.
— @mthabisi_mthire
Online Reporter