By Tawanda Ngena
February is known as the month of love and keeping in line with
that theme is reggae singer/songwriter Sista Flame, who is set to release a mixtape
titled 'Love Sweat Fears' on the 24th.
The Harare-based musician describes the 10-track mixtape as among
other things, a celebration of love. Below is her breakdown of the album title;
"The mixtape celebrates and talks about love. In it, I highlight
the ups and the downs of today's relationships.
" The 'Sweat' part in the mixtape title is in recognition
of the hard work that one puts into their passion in order to see and be able to
achieve their goals. 'Fears' is of course related to the idea of one facing their
challenges head-on and thus the title Love Sweat Fears came together", said
the songstress.
Love Sweat Fears comprises of tracks such as 'Ngadinga'
(automatic riddim), 'Moyo wangu' (tropical escape riddim), 'Only You' (cardiac
keys riddim), 'Falling' (Obama riddim), 'Shame' (give praises riddim), 'Break
Up and Make Ups' (sudden change riddim), 'Too Late' (corner shop riddim),
'Mafemele', 'Music is my life' (conquering lion riddim) and 'Treasure' (loveOlove
riddim).
"For me, there are a number of songs from the mixtape that
deserve special mention and those that I feel the fans will also fall in love with.
Top of that list is the song 'Ngadinga', it talks about searching for true love
everywhere else when it is in actual fact right there in front of you all the while.
"The track 'Only You' is special in its own way because
it celebrates mothers, grandmothers and 'step mums' for their undying love and
support.
"The other tracks that I can not forget to mention are,
'Mafemele', a song that I wrote in appreciation of my own husband and kids for
their support and love, they allow me to follow my dreams. Last, but not least is
'Treasure', which is a song that appeals to couples who have had miscarriages
not to give up but to believe and never lose faith", said Sista Flame, as she
is known to her multitudes of fans.
The mixtape, which she herself produced with the help of Vito
and Mobxthedon (one half of hiphop duo, Mobb figgaz) is her 3rd studio project.
Though 'mixtapes' are not readily associated with the reggae
genre but are more synonymous with hiphop, Sista Flame had this to say,
"Mixtapes, regardless of genre are a good way to market
yourself as an artists and more importantly, they keep you in touch with your fans.
This project gave me the chance to build bridges and also buy me time to work
on my forthcoming album, which is due for release later this year".
Her debut effort was of course an album titled 'The Road' which
was released back in 2003 and did well on all local radio stations.
That album not only Launched her solo career but it also got
Sista Flame nominated in the Best Newcomer category at the Zimbabwe Music Awards
(Zima) that very same year.
Her second album was to come 6 years later in 2009 when she
released the 'The Flame of House', which is up to now still doing relatively well
for the reggae musician on radio.
Most people will be familiar with Sista Flame from the days when
she was part of the More Fire Crew working with the likes of Kieth Ferguson and
Ihawu lesizwe among other artists. She was also part of a 4-piece all-female ensemble
which went by the name Rhuvhuvhuto Sisters and included Plaxedis Wenyika, Ivy
Kombo and the late Jackie Madondo who came together as Zimbabwe Tourism Ambassadors.
Born in Karoi but grew up in Bulawayo, not many people would
ever have known that the reggae arist began her career in the entertainment industry
as a dancer working with a group called Buwac and then moved on to theatre
where she was to fall in love with song.
When the music 'bug' finally caught on, Sista Flame formed a
group called Afrobase with her friends and during the weekends they played at a
local motel called Matopo rock tourist Inn in the Matopos.
Acoording to Sista Flame, it was during one of those shows that
arts guru, Albert Nyathi spotted her and which led her to relocate to Harare in
1999 where she was to join the group Imbongi. Later that same year she joined late
musical icons, Andy Brown and mbira queen, Chiwoniso Maraire as a backing
vocalist for the Band Storm, a role she took and pefected for a good 8 years.
It was Andy Brown and Chiwoniso who encouraged her to write her
own songs and also gain experience as an opening act at their shows.......and the
rest as they say, is history!
Having already established herself and her brand locally over
the years, Sista Flame still promises a lot more.
"My fans can expect a whole new level of performances
and a lot of new music and surprises!
"Being able to go back on stage, doing what l love,
connecting with people and putting out more albums is all I can ask from hereon
and what keeps me going", she said.
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