New gospel artiste on the block

The 22-year-old singer and a Business Communication degree student at the University of Western Cape, in South Africa, has done so much in a trail-blazing music career spanning five years.
And when you look at the work he has done in those five years, it looks like two decades of hard work.
Besides his studies, the youthful producer has launched his own record label — Purple Pride Promotions — last year. This was a result of his passion for music which dates back to the late 1990s.
Like most seasoned musicians, Albert first discovered his love for music while at church where he performed with different choirs.
The name Colour Purple, according to Albert, resembles the biblical royal colour.
“In the Bible the colour purple is a royal colour and I believe I come from a royal family of God. To be the gentleman that I am today, it was because of the way I was groomed at Churchill Boys’ High School were our colour was royal purple,” he  said.
While in Grade Four he joined the choir at Courteney Selous Primary where he honed his music skills with the help of his teacher, Sha Mukimi.
“I developed an interest in music in 1999 while at Courteney Selous and later on ventured into business in 2006 and I have never looked back ever since,” he said.
Albert then formed Purple Pride Promotions last year, which gave birth to Purple Pride Praise and Worship Team. Being the founder of the group, Albert also doubles as the manager.
Purple Pride Praise and Worship Team comprises 25 members who are all talented gospel artistes from different churches. The group’s first single is due for release this month.
“We thought of bringing different gospel artistes from other churches so that we can fuse different talents and come up a polished product that will be appealing to many.
“Our aim is to approach both established and upcoming artistes to be part of the group. We want to be the power team in praise and worship sessions. This is the time for us to save souls through music as we minister God’s word,” said the vibrant Albert.
Recently, the team held its first live concert DVD filming.
“The concert was just one way of introducing some of the team members and at the same time bringing various artistes together,” he said.
Purple Pride Praise and Worship is going to be the platform for gospel artistes to showcase their talent and have their music recorded, while Purple Pride Promotions caters for other musical genres.
“Gospel artistes in the country have been going through difficult times to have their music recorded and Purple Pride Praise and Worship is here to put an end to that.”
Albert has worked with Inspired — a local gospel musical group — to produce their album “Gore Rekutenda Mwari” and another artiste, Eddie Masewu, with his hit album “Gore Reminana”.