I am extremely saddened by the recent events surrounding Andy Muridzo‘s career, but before I launch into a sympathetic rant, we told you so Andy! The crooner was announced in pomp and fair as part of Jah Prayzah‘s Military Touch Movement. We recently heard that he has parted ways with the label because of some contractual needs that were apparently not met.
Andy shot to fame with a hit single Dherira of his album Ngarizhambe and he quickly caught the attention of critics who shot him down, accusing him of copying an already popular Jah Prayzah’s sound. This, however, did not stifle his growth as most people started to pit him against Jah Prayzah, with some going to the extent of claiming that Muridzo could claim the top spot in no time.
Muridzo the did the inevitable by pulling out of the MTM outfit citing regional collaborations as one of his reasons. We were not particularly surprised by this move because you can’t have two flavours in the same pot and expect a different result.
Jah Prayzah and Andy Muridzo despite the accusations of who copies who and so forth, both possess a skill in the same sound. Therefore, one could not be the boss of the other whilst the sounded the same. Jah Prayzah was not going to promote his obvious competition, that was a given. The question strikes us now is, will Andy Muridzo recover?
He spent the whole of last week in the papers and ended it signing Warned and Cautioned statements. The whole time he was in the media, discussions surrounding new music were less if not there at all. The focus was his whining over what he thinks he deserved at MTM. That’s a bad precedence he has set already because it shows us that even if he initiated the breakup, he is not willing to recollect himself and move on quickly.
We can not take away the contribution that Jah Prayzah had on Andy’s career from its formative stages, these guys literally schooled together. However, this is now the music business and only the top dog survives after it fights its way up the ladder. Andy Muridzo needs to redirect his energy to producing new music. We hear that there is a new album coming and I hope it’s none of this ZimDancehall trash he fed us with Sadza.
Just as a parting shot, I think Andy Muridzo bodied Jah Prayzah on Chekeche. Its an opinion I will always stand by.
