King Isaac reclaims his crown
AFTER being on the same song with the late Gregory Isaacs, being nominated for a Grammy Award, and then featuring on the same track with one of Zim dancehall’s pioneers Potato, King Isaac is set for a massive comeback.
Last Wednesday, King Isaac got into the studio with Potato and recorded a song that could mark the comeback of one of the voices that popularised dancehall in Zimbabwe.
Recorded at Givanchy Records, “Ida Inini”, a love song, adds on to King Isaac’s impressive catalogue, which has been built over many decades.
Just 10 days ago, King Isaac launched “Makuwerere” (King Isaac’s Coat of Many Colours)
a 10-track album in Harare. The new release — by the Michigan-based Zimbabwean reggae singer is a mixed bag. ln it one will find reggae, Afro-jazz, funk and dub.
At first, one may feel like the artiste is trying too hard to be everything in one. However, on close evaluation, the body of work reveals that there is a method to King Isaac’s madness.
Born Isaac Gabriel Kalumbu, King Isaacs said the mixed bag is a reflection of everything he grew up listening to.
“That is why I named the album ‘Coat of Many Colours’. “
Besides the different genres and messages, the album was also recorded in three different countries, namely Jamaica, Zimbabwe and the United States. Indeed, the music reflects King Isaac’s thought process and versatility. It carries musical flavours from all the three countries in a manner that retains the musician’s own originality. Those with a keen musical ear will quickly pick up the legendary Leroy Sibbles’s touch. For those not in the know, Sibbles is the renowned bass player and producer who worked with The Heptones.
Songs on the 10-track album include the title track “Glorious Dub”, “Celebration”, “Singing Glory”, “I Know”, “Nyimai Satani”, “Zveupenyu”,
“Chenai” and “Wachena Muroora”.
In between his job as an outreach director for the African Studies Centre at Michigan State University, King Isaacs, a singer/songwriter, utilises his skills as an ethnomusicologist teaching at the same institution.
He also spends much of his time in the studio, where he is already working on a follow-up to “Makuwerere”. He revealed that the song is set to feature Jamaican Chaka Demus and Kearoma Rantao from Botswana. lt will be produced by Zimbabweans Dereck Mpofu and Mono Mukundu. King Isaac was the first Zimbabwean artiste to be nominated for the prestigious Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2010. The Zimbabwean was nominated for his Isaacs Meets Isaac a collaboration album he did
— with the late Gregory Isaacs.
He says he was inspired by reggae stars such as Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Gregory Isaacs and Dennis Brown, who all visited Zimbabwe and planted something in him.