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“GAFA Futi – Chi Extraterrestrial” hit shop shelves on October 7. The latest Winky D effort has seriously divided opinion among his fans, music lovers in general and critics. Below The Sunday Mail Leisure reporters Prince Mushawevato and Takudzwa Chihambakwe deliver their opinions on Winky D’s latest album.
. . . ‘Gafa Futi’ is plain average
WOW! Another album from a top artiste in 2016, what a year this is turning out to be. This time around it is the Ninja President, Winky D, who has decided to join Oliver Mtukudzi, Alick Macheso, Takesure Zamar, Reverend Chivaviro, Freeman, Soul Jah Love and Jah Prayzah among many others, in dropping new projects this year.
Winky’s 12-track album titled “Gafa Futi”, which was released last week, has been hailed by the singer himself as being “extraterrestrial”. Extraterrestrial is defined as being “of or from outside the earth or its atmosphere, or a hypothetical or fictional being from outer space”.
So is this album really out of this world? Is it really extraterrestrial?
The album comes loaded with some heavy punch lines that carry powerful messages, which the “Disappear” hit-maker is known for by his myriad of fans. To prove that he is indeed a profound lyricist tracks such as “25” and “Daddy” carry thought-provoking messages that will leave the listener meditating on their life.
“Gafa Futi” also sees Winky D experimenting with his sound. On tracks such as “Hooray”, “Gafa Party” and “Karma”, the artiste fuses his dancehall groove with a bit of the now popular afro-beat that is being used by most of the biggest artistes on the continent, who include the likes of Patoranking, Davido, Wizkid and Diamond Platinumz. However, when “Gafa Futi” is juxtaposed with the 2015 banger, “Gafa Life Kickstape” – the former is miles away from reaching the level of artistry exuded on the latter.
Having worked with the same producer for the two projects, Oskid, one would have thought that this time around the Ninja President would return bigger and better but alas, that is not the case.
The album is just average.
In some instances, the album sounds like “Gafa Life” because the riddims (beat) sound pretty much the same. Whilst many might conclude that the misunderstanding between Oskid and Winky D, which saw the former’s tagline being omitted from all the tracks, is a huge setback for Winky D, the opposite could actually be true.
If the misunderstanding is not resolved amicably and the two end up not working together in future, this could be a blessing in disguise for Winky D because Oskid misfired on “Gafa Futi”. On the other hand, the ommision of Oskid’s tagline on this mundane offering can actually be an advantage to him.
The album’s major setback is that it lacks an up-tempo party song like “Disappear” or “Woshora”.
ln as much as the tempo of songs do not reflect the success of the product, in dancehall, fans love up-tempo beats. The dirge “Panorwadza Moyo” was welcomed with mixed views when it was released as a single in September and so far it has been an average track on the market, will this set the tone for the rest of the album? When Winky D dropped the sizzling track “Ndozvinoita Chibiggie” off the Machikichori riddim last year before the release of “Gafa Life”, the track sent tremors throughout the market and paved way for his new offering which eventually did well and saw the Ninja President scooping a number of awards.
“Gafa Futi” lacks the sting factor, it will need some miracle for it to shut down the year like how the “Gafa Life Kickstape” did last year.
Online Reporter