Jah Prayzah   

By ZimLegends

 

IN life people have dreams but it’s not always that they come true. And at times it works for the better when they don’t.

Take for example Zimbabwe’s multi-talented musician and mbira player, Jah Prayzah whose life ambition was to be a soldier but ended up trading a gun for a microphone.

The entertainment landscape would certainly have been poorer without him.

Make no mistake, the man has what it takes to be a fine soldier as he is endowed with the looks of an action movie super-hero: tall, handsome, energetic and well built.

But I digress.

Jah Prayzah, real name Mukudzeyi Mukombe, is a rare breed of artiste who is equally accepted by the young and old generations. He is the leader of the band, The Third Generation.

At only 34, Jah Prayzah, already has a rich discography of more than 10 albums to his name. Gwara (2021), Hokoyo (2020), Chitubu ( 2018), Kutonga Kwaro (2017), Mdhara Vachauya (2016) and Tsviriyo (2013) are some of his outstanding albums.

He has already conquered the region, Africa and made an impression on the global stage and looks set to continue rising.

A serial hit maker, the young musician has built his fame on a hybrid sound borrowed from a cocktail of genres that include the traditional beat popularised by Thomas Mapfumo and Afro Jazz played by the late Oliver Mtukudzi.

Some of his works like Hakata from the Chitubu album, sound like a fusion of a host of genres, that include reggae and pop, to give the track a uniquely enthralling sound that only a vastly talented musician like Jah Prazah can do without compromising quality.

His traditional beat is distinctively clear in songs like Dande which features the late songstress, Chiwoniso Maraire and Goto off the album Mdhara Achauya (2016).

But it is the Tuku influence that is more pronounced in his works. It can be felt in tracks like Dande, Msango, Daka and kumusha. Daka which is off the album, Ngwarira Kuparara (2013), has a laid back catchy beat and the song denounces fathers who force their daughters into marrying old men because of their riches.

There are many of Jah Prayzah’s fans who believe that the musician gets spiritually possessed when performing traditional folk songs like Goto live at his shows.

However, his mother, Shirely Savanhu, denied the allegation.

“Many people have asked me of the possibility that my son gets possessed. I often laugh at that inquiry because I never thought he would be put in that bracket…. I discovered he was talented when he used to sing in church as a child. Everyone wanted him to lead in many songs,” she said.

The youthful musician has a rich command of the Shona language and this could have given rise to the “possession rumours”. Some of his fans claimed the depth of his lyrics did not belong to his generation.

JP, as the musician is sometimes referred to, shows his deep understanding of the language in Kumahumbwe off his 2018 album Chitubu. Kumahumbwe, a favourite of this writer, equates death to the biblical Goliath. Here, a lover writes an imaginary letter to his departed childhood lover, recounting all the games they used to play as kids. The lover is in disbelief that her woman packed her bags to go and leave with Goliath and wishes he could turn back the hand of time to those days when they used to play games as kids. Sometimes we let our loved ones slip away and they end up finding love elsewhere. There is a bigger giant out there that we all cannot run away from. The song is simply telling us to love our beloved ones when they are still alive.

Jah Prayzah’s father, John Mukombe, attributed his son’s rich Shona to the days when he was a school kid when he used to enjoy reading a lot of shona novels.

Jah Prayzah knows how to keep all sets of his fans happy. The youth love the danceable fast beat and catchy phrases in songs like Watora Mari, Dangerous, Donhodzo and Murder while the more mature listener love the serious message in tracks like Kumahumbwe, Daka and Moyo wakaoma.

Jah Prayzah has collaborated with musicians of various genres in his career. Locally he worked with Ammara Brown, Sulumani Chimbetu, Progress Chipfumo, the late Dr Mtukudzi and the late Chiwoniso Maraire, among others. Botswana’s Slizer, Yemi Alade from Nigeria and Diamond Plutinumz of Tanzania are some of the foreign acts he collaborated with in his other projects. On the international scene, Jah Prayzah collaborated with Jamaican reggae musician, Jah Cure in 2018 on the single, Angel Lo.

His collaboration with Vabati VaJehova on the group’s 2019 single, Fambai Naro, proved Jah Prayzah’s versatility when he gave a faultless performance in choral music.

It is, however, his duet with Platinum on Watora Mari that tops the list as it proved popular with fans. The song registered more than 17 million on YouTube.

Like the late king of pop, Michael Jackson, Jah Prayzah invests a lot of time and money in making videos for his songs. Most of his videos are the reason why his works attract views upwards of a million on YouTube. His videos are testimony of the musician’s other talent, acting. The contemporary musician can easily make a living out of film acting, if he so wishes. One of Jah Prayzah’s latest videos Mukwasha directed by Vusa Blaqs registered a Zimbabwe record of 172 000 views on YouTube in just 21 hours.

Jah Prayzah is the last born in a family of five children, four boys and a girl. His parents are John Mukombe, a retired headmaster, and mother, Shirely Savanhu. He was born in July, 1987 at Nyadire Hospital and was raised in Murehwa, a small town about 95km outside Harare.

Growing up in rural Uzumba, a young Mukudzeyi dreamt of becoming a soldier. It was his admiration of the army that later inspired him to wear army regalia together with his band members when performing. JP, until recently, used to address his fans, as “Masoja”, which means soldiers.

He coined his stage name from his first name which is Shona for Praise Him (God). Mukudzeyi’s love for reggae music influenced him to adopt the Jamaican name for God which is Jah.

Reggae hits like Chirangano Cherudo, Ngwarira Kuparara and In the Ghetto, prove his love for the genre that traces its roots to Jamaica.

Jah Prayzah is married to Rufaro Chiworeso and the couple has four kids, three daughters and a son.  The musician has another son, Mukudzeyi Junior aged 11, his first born, a product of his first failed marriage. Mukudzeyi is already a recording artiste in his own right and his debut single Rovai Ngoma Dad clocked more than 2 million views on YouTube.

 

Jah Prayzah attended Musamhi Primary School and later Musamhi High School in Murehwa, Mashonaland East Province. He then moved to the capital where he eventually completed his ‘O’ Level and ‘A’ Level education at Kuwadzana High 1 School.

Musical Background

Jah Prayzah’s first experience with creating music was when he was in form 2 where one of his teachers, a Mr Musimbe, played the mbira instrument so well.

“I was so in love with the instrument. We would ’dub’ the music in the era of cassettes and listen to it. It was Mr Musimbe who taught me how to play the mbira instrument” he recalls.

Later, while attending school at Kuwadzana High School, Mukudzeyi bought a mbira instrument from a friend. Surprisingly, his first shot at recording was at Zimdancehall and reggae music, not traditional music. The dancehall and reggae tracks that he recorded with his friends in Budiriro generated a lot of interest within the suburb. Their project, however, failed to cause any waves on the national music scene.

He later hit the jackpot when he decided to switch to his longtime hobby of playing Afro-jazz. Jah Prayzah recorded tracks with one DJ Thando and some local producers, releasing hits such as Sorry Mama and Seiko, which received better publicity than his earlier projects, marking the genesis of his rise to national stardom.

Jah Prayzah has won many local and regional awards in his illustrious career. He became the first Zimbabwean to win an MTV African Music Award when he won listeners choice category in 2016.

 

Today, Jah Prayzah is performing for FREE at the Affrofest Show in Toronto in Canada, the largest free African festival in North America!

Below is Jah Prayzah’s Upcoming Toronto, Canada show, on 15th July 2022, Link:

http://www.1zimlegends.com/2022/06/04/jah-prayzah-and-the-generation-band-live-in-concert-on-july-15th-2022/