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Jeys Marabini

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
JEYS Marabini’s resilience in the music industry has seen him soldiering on and his latest album will be released at the end of this month.

August 31 will be the day and Bulawayo Theatre the venue for Jeys to prove that he is indeed in the industry for the long haul.

Leading his band Kozekulunge which when loosely translated means “until things look up”, Jeys has been in the industry for the past 28 years.

His latest Afro Jazz offing, Ntunja Mbila, which means hard rock hints at a certain defiance that the artiste has to the hardships that he faces in Zimbabwe, especially being from Bulawayo.

When he announced that he was preparing for an album launch, Jeys challenged fans and people from Bulawayo to come in their numbers to the show.

He said if not many attend, it will be proof that their cry as artistes that Bulawayo does not support its own, was indeed true.

“I’ve been in the music industry for 28 years and I believe that I deserve their support on that basis only. I’ve produced music for the past 28 years and they must come and witness this journey and celebrate all these years,” said Jeys.

The musician has pulled all the stops to make it a memorable album launch roping in superstar Oliver Mtukudzi to be one of the guests on the night.

Heavily inspired by Tuku, it looks like his album will have the fingerprints of Samanyanga as his lead guitarist Rodwel Roda mastered it. Roda is one of Jeys protégés.

He is also trying to entice the ever so hard to please Bulawayo audience with a promotion for those who will come to the album launch.

Entrance will cost $12 and this price includes a copy of the latest offing.

Like all his other eight albums, Jeys said he took time putting this one together. His last album was Thula Sana released in 2016.

“I took more than a year to produce it because when I’m working on an album, I take my time. I want to bring about something new in my music.

“I don’t want to sound the same. I want to show that Jeys is growing all the time.”

Jeys said it was important for artistes to support each by attending events of fellow artistes.

“For groups such as Black Umfolosi, Sunduza or Indosakusa The Morning Star to be successful, it needs me as an artiste to buy tickets for their shows. I shouldn’t enter the show for free because there are expenses that they incur and they have to pay themselves at the end of the day.

“So whenever one of us holds a function, we as artistes should be the first to pay for the show before we start crying for people to attend,” said Jeys.

Last year, perhaps as a build up to his album launch, Jeys embarked on a tour of Bulawayo’s high density suburbs. This was part of efforts to take his music to the people.

He said it was not profitable as an artiste to sit at home and wait for gigs.