I seldom get wowed by new music. There is a lot that I consider before I call good music, good. As a radio presenter, a lot of people assume that I must like all music thrown at me. I have failed dismally at that for years now. I find it hard to lie on air that a particular song is good while it is not. In fact, it is a cardinal sin in broadcasting to bash a song and for that I guess the only option is the one that a lot of musicians don't love to hear. It could be a reason why, the very few artists that I have given my honest (and could be very hurtful opinions over their music career) have gone on to make it or sadly close shop and stick to their daytime jobs.
So the answer as to why I don't play particular music on my shows is simple, radio is a mirror of who you are and you are bound to follow certain likes and tastes, though we will obviously give it a listen first. Try giving "Bhozhongora" a few solid pop and jazz songs to include on his playlist is like trying to give a guy who just recently got his scooter license a Boeing 707, to take it down the runway at Dubai International. There is personality in music and it speaks to us as well as radio jockeys.
When I was given the opportunity to host Gospel City, I was confronted with the issue of how to make the show interesting. Saying this doesn't mean it wasn't when it had the previous presenters, NO, but because we act just like relay champions at radio stations. When one gives you the barton, you don't rest on your laurels but with full speed, even more than the last sprinter, so that we can achieve the best results.
Last week's show was an amazing revelation for me in two ways. First, I realised that as a country we need to find a better way of distributing our artists and their music and secondly, Vuyo Brown's music is shockingly beautiful and I wonder why we haven't celebrated her much more than what we have so far. If I were to chose the kind of friends that the award winning star, Sha Sha should have, she would be one of them amongst a few.
Her voice is the sweet warm sun in the winter days and it carries through her music that she carefully selects. She could have easily chosen any other genre apart from the largely Christian music that she sings but she says, "I wanted to do music that a person like me (who was not born in a largely Christian family) could relate to"
I found that very deep and well thought of. I seldom meet artists who have a certain belief and a strong character in what there are doing. It is one thing to be called a musician and another to have a cause behind your actions. Vuyo Brown embodies that and more and I can almost assuredly say, the sky is the limit for a low shining star which is not going to shoot down anytime soon.
Catch her full interview with me here.
