The UK based Congolese super star Blanchard de Plaizir has just returned from a promo tour in Tanzania- East Africa. Here our editor Stephen Ogongo catches up with him on all his trip in the the country of Bongo flava.... enjoy!!!
Stephen Ogongo: Deplaizir, you have just returned from your first trip in East Africa precisely in Tanzania please tell our reader how your trip to Tanzania was.
Deplaizir: My trip was 100% fine in Tanzania, I really enjoyed the country and the people are fantastic and responded to me and my music very well. Its always been my dream to reach out to East Africa starting from Tanzania. The way things happened gives me more confidence to carry on and planning trips to other East African Countries such as Kenya and Uganda. My mission in Tanzania was to promote my music and Thanks to my Manager Sophia Kessy, the promotion went very well. I had interviews with Local Radio stations, Televisions, with the newspapers and other media. within the first few days, the whole country knew about me and my music, people start calling my Manager requesting live shows, as a result, we had to organise one quick to satisfy the fans. The show happened on Sunday 5th October in Musasani Beach club Dar Es Salaam and I was supported by Akudo Impact, a Local band based in Dar Es Salaam. The place was packed like an egg there were more than 2000 people and the atmosphere was great, Tanzanians really know how to enjoy their music, and that show will remain in my memory as one of my best shows in terms of audience involvement.
I also had an opportunity to meet some Tanzania artists and a female Vocalist From Mombasa, I was really humbled by their down to earth nature and willingness to help and work together with other artists. I took that opportunity to record 3 new tracks with 3 of the cream of Tanzanian music at the moment, Lady Jaydee, Banana Zoro and Tarsis Massela. All in all, everything went very well exceeding my expection and I really miss the Dar Es Salaam and its people, the weather and atmosphere.
Stephen Ogongo: What are the names of the three songs you recorded in Tanzania?
Deplaizir: The tittles are: Kende Kaka ( Just Go!) featuring Lady Jaydee its a rumba song with a strong salsa flair and is sang in both swahili and lingala. The second song is called Swali ( Question) Featuring Banana Zoro and Tarsis Massela, its a new age Rumba sang mainly in swahili with 2 lingala solo vocals only. The 3rd song is called Game Over. That is Techno Soukouss as I like to describe my music style, some people call it Sebene, Ndombolo ect... Its a Dance song right from the first second to the last. In this song I worked with 2 Atalaku ( annimators) Canal Top from Akudo Impact and G. Seven From FM Academia both bands based in Tanzania and The Solo guitarist is called Pitshou Mechant (Umbwa Mkali) also from Akudo Impact.
Stephen Ogongo: Could you please give us a brief description of what each song is about?
Deplaizir: Kende Kaka talks about the aftermonth of a broken relationship. One of the ex partners goes on bitching and saying bad things about the other partner and when family and friends ask her/him as to why the reletionship ended, she/he always blames the other partner and goes even far insulting ect... whereas she/he is the reason behind the break up. The song is the response of the other partner to her/his bad mouthed or ungrateful ex. in the song, She/he does not insult back but lets her/him know that she/he is aware of all that she/he has been saying and pleading to her/him to stop it because its not good as it brings shame to them both, in the end, she/he tells the ex to just go and peace and wishes her/he well in the future. The moral story to this song is that, people should always appreciate their past relationships no mater how nasty it ends there is no point i satying ennemies instead you people should wish each other well after a breakdown and be civil with each other and respect each other. So ofetn people forget the good memories of a past relationship and concentrate on the bad side of hings only.
Swali is a swahili word meaning Question. Basically a man is crying over a lost love. He is asking himself a lot questions as to why he lost his soul mate, the only woman he has ever loved, and he is pleading to God to bring her back to him.
Game over means what the word says, you know when a game is over, there could only be one winner and one loser or a draw.. But in the case of this song, a draw is not permitted. The winner here is anybody whith a winning mentality anybody who does not give up even when facing difficulty in life. And to others who have made mistakes or have never taken their lives seriously in the past, Game over is to inspire them to be more determined and aim for success in their lives and to stop playing games. This is a dance song and features a new dance that I created in Tanzania. the dance is called "Bembeleza baby" baby wana mubembeleza na maziwa, usi mupe ugari.....
Stephen Ogongo: How was your experience in working with Tanzanian super stars Lady Jaydee, Banana Zoro and Tarsis Massela
Deplaizir: I really enjoyed working with them and I admire their professionalism, creative attitudes and willingness to help. This is what Africa is all about.. the spirit of Ubuntu as always said Nelson Mandela. You know, If all African artists unite, this will set up a good exemple to our people and leaders to unite instead of conflicts, wars, injustice and corruption. Music is the ONE thing that really unite people regardless of our differences and yet, african artists are neglected by our own selfish and corrupt governments. Its about time that us as African artists unite under one big African Musicians Union organisation and see how we can help our people because I believe we have the power to influence our people more than greedy, corrupt and selfish politicians. This unity can only be achieved if all of as artists have the same mental attitudes and humility as I find in Tanzanian artists that I have recorded with.
Stephen Ogongo: How did the idea of working on this project together come about?
Deplaizir: When I realised how much Tanzanians appreciate my music, I quickly wanted to do some songs in swahili so that they can get my messages. I suggested the idea to Sophia Kessy and Gadner Habash who are my management team and they agreed not only for the fan and for my promotion aswell as they believe this will establish my name strongly in swahili speaking countries. I was more motivated to carry on with the project because of the willingness of the artists I worked with to help and unite. We needed to show positive image to our people by uniting and working together.
Stephen Ogongo: What is the name of the LP or will the songs be released as singles?
Deplaizir: The tittle of the LP is Game Over and will be released as a 3 tracks maxi single with videos.
Stephen Ogongo: When should we expect the LP?
Deplaizir: The promotion for the LP will beggin at the end of this month with radio stations in Tanzania airing the songs and should everything go according to plans, the LP will be available to the public by the end of the year before the year end's festive season. I take this opportunity to invite any radiostations around the world to contact us on management@deplaizir.com to request a free promo copy for their stations.
Stephen Ogongo: How different is the new LP from the previous ones?
Deplaizir: The main difference is the language, there is 70% swahili lyrics and also this time I have benefited from a massive vocal contribution from the Tanzanian super stars Lady Jaydee a very talented singer who has won the Kora Music awards 3 times, Tarsis Massela a very good vocalist from DR Congo who resides in Tanzania and Banana Zoro who came to the studio with his father and mentor Zahir Zoro during recordings. I would like to inform the public that Banana Zoro comes from a musical family all his siblings and father are musicians and they all have their own band. Zahir Zoro was so impressed with my work that he is preparing a track that I will feature in when I return to Dar Es Salaam later this year to start working on the videos. The african sun and wormth also added an extra level of energy to the music. I am sure the public and critics will notice a huge improvement from the last LP Plaisir Ya Trop, which is still doing very well in clubs, radio stations and African music market.
For all infos about this young talented artist, please visit his official website http://www.deplaizir.com/ www.myspace.com/deplaizir and if you want to chat with him direct, visit is blog on http://www.de-plaizir.blogspot.com/ alternatively send emails to management@deplaizir.com
Stephen Ogongo
Editor, Africa News -ETNO Media Italy
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