Sarungano comes as Jah Prayzah’s first single of the year. A love duet that serves as the trailer for the 2 albums he’s set to drop this weekend, Chiremerera and Maita Baba. He collaborates with the gifted Feli Nandi, for a track that beautifully combines Afrofusion with Jah’s signature sound.
It’s a song of what almost was, the situations that leave us wondering what could’ve been. Sarungano displays chemistry in not just the vocal expression of the two artists but in their lyricism. They go back and forth in classic duet nature and Feli Nandi’s soft vocals juxtaposed against Jah Prayzah’s somewhat gruff voice makes for the best acoustics.
The song title Sarungano translates directly to storyteller but it can be taken to mean “Once upon a time”, which is the case in this instance. Sarungano is often used as the opening phrase in the telling of Shona folktales/fairytales. “Zvakagumira pasarungano” as the track’s lyrics go conveys the notion that the fairytale love didn’t make it pass the beginning. Which aptly represents a love that doesn’t get fulfilled.
The instrumental is dominated by a twinkling guitar that brings to mind the mbira instrument. It is easy going and the perfect foundation to the structure of this song. The beat is a collaborative production effort by DJ Tamuka and Rodney Beatz. However what truly adds a layer to storytelling is the track’s video directed by Umsebenzi ka Blaqs.
In the sense of using a period piece to visually express the story of a love song, Winky D’s Happy Again walked so Jah Prayzah’s Sarungano could run. The video expresses unrequited and forbidden love, complicated by race and the legality of human ownership at the time. It is beautifully shot, but misses on making one feel the profound sadness that the situation displayed should bring.
You can checkout “Sarungano” here.
