JoyRukanza is one of the talented emerging voices in Zimbabwe’s urban music space. Although having fallen in love with music in high school, Joy’s professional career is relatively young. She only made her musical debut in 2021 with “New Day”. A track that talks about new beginnings or new love rather and features South African multi-award-winning hip-hop sensation, KiD X. It received international acclaim and instantly made JoyRukanza an artist to watch.
New Day was followed by the release “Roses”. A soulful track with Dance influences that once again talks about love. Roses had it’s premiere on BBC Music prior to its official release. A thing to note is that Joy has always had carefully thought rollouts. She has managed drive engagement and conversation around her music through media tours, billboards and playlist placements. A strategy that has been a key element to her rise as an artist.
“Queendom” was released at the backend of 2021 as Joy’s third single and it was her most significant release yet. It was shot in Tanzania and premiered in a Ster-Kinekor theatre in Bulawayo, while also debuting on multiple playlists. From her very first release JoyRukanza had already begun the journey to Matter More For Sis, Joy’s recently released debut album. An 11 track project that began as an idea in 2020, as Joy worked with Murphy Cubic.
The album title Matter More For Sis is a double entendre as it’s a play on the word Metamorphosis and it also means
“Matter more for yourself sister”. It is primarily an exploration of the subject of love. At it’s core it’s Contemporary RnB but it has Soul and Afropop as strong influences to it’s sonic quality. Joy not only sings about understanding the importance of self love but finding that one person who completes you.
Matter More For Sis not only represents a metamorphosis in how it changes sound and how Joy views love but the music itself went through an evolution. Initially thought of as a short EP in 2020, the vision went through various changes until the recently released end product.
The album kicks of with Survive The Night, a futuristic sounding tune, that screams The Weeknd in certain elements. The “Night” as referred to by Joy here is a turbulent love.
There is a particular rock and roll energy to it although it’s still RnB. House comes up next and it continues Joy’s display of metaphors in storytelling. It has an acoustic nature with quick snaps, harmonising vocals and the mantra that we all need somebody to love.
Joy has a vocal gift that she extends and contracts as required, offering up something different with each song. Qu We She featuring Azana, has beautiful harmonies, and it’s another song that feels futuristic yet it’s distinctly African. Joy talks about her disappointments in love, while emphasising that she’s now choosing her. Go is the perfect example of this. It’s the strum of guitar strings punctuated by Rukanza’s vocals as she reflects on betrayed trust.
I thought you believed in me
I thought you believed in us
I thought you believed in the memories, happiness
I thought you believed in us
I thought you believed in trust
I thought you believed in all these fairytales, growing old
I won’t let you leave with all my love and the best of me
I won’t let you leave with all my love and the best of me
Go, go, go, go, go, go…
TLC is slow and carries an easy tempo, with an acoustic sound to it. It is a song about Joy mending her heart and finding a new start. The lyrics, “I never meant the world to you, although I thought I’d buy the world for you” best sum it up. Timeout comes as another beautiful record with experimental sound and Easy reflects on falling in love effortlessly. The music on MatterMoreForSis drifts into the alternative at times.
JoyRukanza doesn’t deliver the easiest of melodies at times but there’s still something about her sound that keeps you listening. There’s Dance, Pop, Afrobeats, Soul and this blending of influences is representative of the album’s metamorphic nature. The project closes it with Somebody, a song that’s on more positive note. A person that makes you feel seen. The perfect summation to this journey of love JoyRukanza takes us on.
MatterMoreForSis is very well executed for a debut project. It’s well outside the box of Zimbabwe’s mainstream sounds but more than a few will resonate with how Joy views the subject of love. The production is quite and the mixing and mastering is of a high standard. A 7/10 on a good day with the possibility of rising higher with time.
