Armstrong unveils ‘BrB’ mixtape in style
Every once in a while a music star is born. Such stars are few and far between, but when they come along; they shine for all to see. Malawi has such a star in the name of Armstrong.
He has emerged as one of most exciting young artists out of this generation and it was of no surprise when Nde’feyo Entertainment signed him last summer and his music has proved that the record label did not gamble in taking such an awe-inspiring artist on board.
Over the weekend, the entertainment company officially unveiled the singer, born Sopani Armstrong Kalua, when he launched his mixtape titled ‘BrB’ at Shire Highlands Hotel in Blantyre.
Worthy it
The 11-track R&B CD heralds the artist’s debut Afro R&B yet-to-be-titled album scheduled to be out in few months.
Soaring with amusing, aesthetic voices that one could mistake him with US singer Chris Brown, Armstrong proved worth to be aligned among renowned urban music pin-ups. And his ability to wrap himself around a song that is sensuous evocative and simply irresistible has helped to up-scale his wave of success.
On Sunday, he put up a worth-praise performance that confounded his critics and idol alike.
Despite trivial equipment hitches, Armstrong managed to balance his voices and energy on stage. And it was all clear that a few months with the record label, Nde’feyo Entertainment, had done wonders on the kid as his stage skills keep on improving almost every show.
He was all excited, marveled at the massive crowd – largely composed of youths – he could not hide his anticipation.
“Am grateful for your coming, I don’t take it for granted. I love you and am happy for your support. My album is coming out soon, watch out for that. You have been great and am proud that you came to support me,” said Armstrong amidst cheers from his fans.
He performed several songs from the ‘BrB’ mixtape, ‘In love with a DJ’ ‘Hey Shawty’ featuring Skid’, ‘Without your love’ and the title track. He also did his two recently released tracks, ‘Sinditha Kumvetsa’ and ‘Ndamusowa’ off the upcoming album.
It was ‘Ndamusowa’, though, that received praise and cheers from the audience that kept calling for encore and the singer bowed down to the call, before he repeated ‘Sinditha Kumvetsa’.
Showdown
His performance was preceded by a showdown by his label-mate Piksy, who just like other performers, before him, put up a nice performance. He performed several songs including ‘Moto’ but the hit of the day was his new song under Nde’feyo, ‘Unamata’, which threw the audience out of balance.
Earlier on, several urban artists dished out their best. It was FFT, Akadaulo and Twiza who opened up the mic before hip-hop wonder girl Rina took over. Then it was Isu, Lilongwe artists Gwamba and Mwanache. Hype picked up when Blak Jak of ‘Wadya’ fame took over the mic.
Blak Jak mesmerized fans, and then Young Kay stepped in to bill up the flame of excitement among the audience.
The ‘BrB’ mixtape, which will be up on the internet for free download, has tracks such as ‘Random Thoughts’ with KeiM, ‘Beautiful’ featuring Young Kay, ‘Ukhale Wanga’, ‘Lake of Stars’ with Maskal, ‘Don’t Wanna Talk about It’, ‘Party for Two’ featuring Tigris and Young Kay, as well as the title track.
According to Nde’feyo Entertainment, they will make copies for sale to those people who will be willing to purchase the mixtape which has been produced by several producers – KeiM, Percy Manyozo (Pro Pee Records), Manje & V2, and The Daredevilz.
