In July Swangz Avenue was pressed to give Vinka a concert. Someone even started an online petition.
Swangz was like say no more, we have a big announcement…. The announcement was for the All-star album.
Soon, they were off to Zanzibar…
The album was released on Friday after a listening party where friends of Swangz Avenue were invited.
Compilation albums are one of the hardest things to consume for music lovers.
When you listen to Adele’s album to know her state of mind, a record label album is bound to be all over the place.
Tha’s mainly because record label albums usually bring together superstars to make music they may not have wanted to make.
Thus the albums end up with many throw away beats and at times forced collaborations, most record label albums without an anchor usually lack a soul, direction and purpose.
Albums such as G.O.O.D Music: Kanye West Presents the Cruel Summer or Ludacris Presents Disturbing the Peace, benefitted from Kanye West and Ludacris being the anchors and vision bearers in a way. Kanye West’s vision is heard through songs such as Sin City even when he’s not on them. In the same way, Ludacris is visible through songs such as Georgia.
When an album doesn’t have some sort of a head figure to twist the creativity to their direction, taste or sound they come out great but excessive.
On Swangz All-star, Elijah Kitaka and Azawi become the anchors, now, I don’ know if this is intended but by presence, they are the anchors.
Azawi appears on 11 of the 16 songs on the Swangz All-star album while Elijah Kitaka appears on 10 songs.
The two appear on at least six songs together, for every song without Azawi, there’s Elijah Kitaka. In fact, among the 16 songs on Volume 1, it’s only one song with neither Azawi nor Elijah Kitaka.
I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m saying the vision of the album seems to flow through these two.
Swangz All-star album is probably the first Ugandan album by artistes on the same label, seeing that we don’t have very many labels, and it could be the third in East Africa after the Ogopa DJs All-star album which came with songs such Ninanoki by Nameless, Julie by Redsan, Githurai by Mr Googz, Vinnie Banton and Mr Lenny.
The other known record label album was the Sol Generation toast to 100 years of KLM with a tribute album, 1919 to Forever, with songs such as Extravaganza.
Most of these albums are used to showcase all the artistes the label has to offer, those who may be known and unknown. Sometimes it’s through such projects that we even learn about the new signings.
Much as the albums usually have lots of throw away, they are used to also showcase an artiste’s strength.
The album does that for Kitaka and Azawi, Nwagi comes off as the versatile one, appearing on songs that are further away from what she does.
Her range on the album takes her to Kitaka’s mellow Afro-fusion, the commercial kidandali and hip hop.
Vinka seems to do the same thing we know her for but makes every appearance special.
Zagazillion has only one appearance on the album, Mary Jane, being a hybrid of Africa’s new pop and hip hop, it’s hard imagining a song that would have represented him as well as Mary Jane.
Then there’s Zafaran, she appears on many songs but shines the most on God Ye Buddy.
The album features a number of hits and misses, but one of the biggest hits is Wanika Bendera, featuring Vinka, Kitaka and John Blaq, the song takes its sound from Terab music, popular in areas of Zanzibar where much of the album recording took place. It seems this is the only song on the album that justifies the trip to Zanzibar.
Mary Jane, is the album’s shock value, a hip hop trap song where Nwagi has the opening verse – no song on the album or ever, has captured the larger than life personality of Nakanwagi like this one.
The one who doesn’t want peace but problems, that one who recklessly faces off with fans on social media. Mary Jane however is not just a song, it is Swangz Avenue’s history, featuring both the first male artiste Swangz put on their roster, Zagazillion who joined the label as an eleven year old rapper Young Zee to the last and probably most successful male artiste they have had so far, Kitaka.
Released on November 8, the album had earlier been anticipated to drop in October.
However, even when it arrived a bit late, it seems the Swangz All-star album is still a work in progress. For instance between dropping on Friday and the time of the review, it seems Swangz Avenue’s team has continued to twerk a few songs, remove an instrument and switch up minor things. The most visible one however is on the song Full Service, when the album went live on Friday, the song featured Nwagi, Kitaka and Joshua Baraka. By Saturday, Baraka's vocals and verse had been completely removed, at least on Spotify.
The highlights on the album include Full Service, Red Flag, Wanika Bendera, Wewe and Mary Jane, a big part of the others are forgettable, though some dark horses such as Batuleke could still become club bangers.
This album is the first Swangz Avenue has compiled with their artistes after their Do They Know Christmas in the early 2010s. The difference is however, the Christmas album did not have Swangz Avenue artistes.
Thus, it’s monumental as it is also a celebration. With all guest artistes such as Levixone, A-Pass, Bien, Savara, Arrow Bwoy, John Blaq, and Joshua Baraka, one couldn’t help but wonder what it would have taken for the album to reunite the current Swangz stars with one of Swangz’s first starlets, Irene Ntale. Especially on that Wewe song, where all the label’s girls are featured.
Swangz Avenue having been a gir’s label for a long time, reuniting with one of their biggest talents would have been such a talking point. But that’s just a thought.