The CD Msholozi, by various Kon-shias artists, is not only a musical tribute to the life and times of Jacob Zuma but a competent artistic venture.
As a native of kaNxamalala in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal, a migrant labourer in Durban and later a freedom fighter based in various African capitals, Zuma is a complex man and the CD certainly speaks to the multidimensional nature of the African National Congress deputy president.
The 12-track offering is a mixture of maskanda (Ihashi Elimhlophe and Mfiseleni Magubane), local hip-hop (Zulu Boy), kwaito (Ngiyacela by Shana) and what is regularly referred to as Afro-pop, with the likes of MXO.
It does not shy away from being an activist album. All the songs are explicit about either Zuma’s heroics or how he has been victimised by state machinery.
As political commentary, some of the songs take a swipe at Aids policy, poverty and black economic empowerment.
But, whatever you might think of Zuma or his politics, this is a highly competent musical offering. Like Zuma, the music does not have a one-size-fits-all dimension. It straddles lanes of genre and as such of musical traditions, while catering for traditional (rural) and urban (cosmopolitan) taste.
If this is meant as a contribution to the general makeover of the still legally potentially beleaguered — the threat of criminal prosecution by the Scorpions remains — Jay Zet to Jay Zee, the producers should be proud of their efforts.
And yes, it does include a version of Mshini Wami.