Manana’s new single set to debut on Top 20
MBABANE – Eswatini-born Grammy-award winning RnB wonderkid Manana’s newest single ‘Inside’ is set to debut on Eswatini Top 20 Chart Show this week.
Hot on the heels of his sophomore project ‘But Could The Moments Inbetween’, Manana, born Mpendulo Manana, is back with a new Extended Playlist (EP) titled ‘Comma’. It was released last Friday, the new EP is a brief detour from his trilogy centred around heartbreak and enriches his signature RnB sound-bed, crafted by Yimeeka, London Rhodes and Noble, with infusions of pop, Afro-house and Afrobeats.
Navigate
While sonic exploration anchors this excursion, Manana’s expressive lyricism helps him navigate the forlorn melodies of ‘Umbilical’, ‘Anything’ which comes in as the second track, fawn between the rhythms of ‘Enchanted’ and celebrate good vibes over the log drums of ‘Inside’, which completes the four- track EP as the fourth and final track. For the uninitiated, Manana was born in the Kingdom of Eswatini, the 28-year-old’s musical journey began at the Drakensberg Boys Choir School in South Africa (SA) at the age of eight. He went on to study music at University of Cape Town (UCT)’s SA College of Music, where he majored in Jazz vocals. Many were first introduced to Manana around 2013 through his multinational neo-soul quartet Seba Kaapstad. Over the last few years, he has also been working with other artists in his writing capacity such as Ami Faku, Amanda Black and Sauti Sol. The story of how he found himself counted among Grammy-award winning musicians reads like a fairy-tale as Manana himself never saw it coming. He won the Grammy for his song-writing skills for a song titled ‘Time’ Flies, where he worked with popular Kenyan band Sauti Sol, and the song eventually found its way into internationally acclaimed Nigerian superstar Burna Boy’s album ‘Twice As Tall’, which scooped a Grammy for Best Global Music Album category at the 63rd Grammy Awards.
Speaking in an earlier interview about the Grammy win, Manana was quoted as saying that; “Initially when we worked on this song, we were told that it wouldn’t be used with things that are not time related.
Then after a few months I got word from my people that Burna Boy was going to be using it for his album and that would’ve been enough,and then news of this happened.”
Congratulations
Asked how he found out about the award, he said: “I was sleeping when the awards were on and some friends of mine, the guys who I actually work with on my music, the Noble Boys, they are based in LA right now. They sent me a WhatsApp message saying congratulations on the Grammy win. To be honest, it hadn’t even clicked that if Burna won, it would also mean that I have won as well. Once that clicked, I was like ‘oh snap, I just won my first Grammy’ and that’s really cool.”
He added that the feeling was such a surreal moment for him, describing it as unbelievable.
His previous single ‘Summervibe’ is currently sitting on the 10 position on the charts, having gone as far as number four. Closely followed on ninth place by another liSwati musician Zwile Bhembe whose single Khushu from the Let It Rain project spent its 11th week on the charts.
Other notable inclusions are Overflow by DJ Cup featuring Mvelo, We Are The Eyes by Russian DJ/producer M.E.T.A.N.O.I.A, and Spirit by Dearson and Uncle R, who have spent the highest number of weeks on the charts. KO continues to rule the charts with his last summer banger SETE, which retained its spot at the number one place. Listeners can catch the Eswatini Top 20 Charts Show on EBIS 2 FM, on Fridays at 8pm, or Thursdays at 4pm as hosted by radio personality Bongani Bobo Dlamini and co-host Bongani DJ Tizalami Dube.