An Interview With The Talented MJ Sings As He Talks About His Upcoming Album ‘UMUZI’

TAKUDZWA HILLARY CHIWANZA

The coruscant potpourri of lively and refreshingly exciting Zimbabwean urban sounds we are now blessed with in the contemporary is a spectacle to behold. It is, in all honesty, a marvel that should be properly documented and celebrated. We are now spoiled to a beautiful wide array of sound ranges to choose from and who would not love that? And in this, we talk about the amazingly gifted MJ Sings; as well as his upcoming album titled Umuzi which we are so super-elated about.

MJ SINGS LATEST UMUZI ALBUM ZIMBABWE MUSIC 2023

MJ Sings is a contemporary Zimbabwean urban music artist with an affinity towards Afropop sounds, Soul, and Dance.

He proudly originates from the City of Kings and Queens. Yep, Bulawayo.

He has an impressive and excellent musical and artistic track record, which makes him an absolutely super cool artist.

MJ Sings is the former Bulawayo’s Got Talent second runner-up, as well as being the finalist for Dreamstar Zimbabwe. That is some brilliant, unrivalled music history right there.

Earground once covered MJ Sings, saying that this super cool musician is criminally underrated and slept on. Which is true. We agree. It is a nuisance to sleep on the best talent we have in Zimbabwe.

But in this instance, we would love to strongly believe that his time is now—this is his season, and we are here to share this wonderful and blissful journey with him and the rest of Zimbabwe.

Why we say so? Because MJ Sings is releasing his first Long Play aptly titled Umuzi—we know he is proud of his home for that is where his dreams manifested and turned into tangible reality.

Lovely story. The album will be released on the 12th of August, 2023. And this is something we are greatly looking forward to.

But, what is the album Umuzi all about? What is the inspiration behind this latest album by MJ Sings?

What point does he want to share with the world? What was the inspiration? Who produced it? Any collaborations?

ZimSphere’s Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza (THC) managed to have a lovely interview with MJ Sings (MJ) and here is his story.

Interview slightly edited for brevity and for the purposes of an enjoyable reading experience.

Enjoy.

THC: So, who is MJ Sings?

MJ: MJ Sings is a Zimbabwean born Multi Award Winning singer -songwriter currently based in Bulawayo.

He prides himself in being the musically innovative founder of the genre called ZiPop—which is a blend of Afropop/Soul/Dance music.

I’m popularly known for love ballads but I also have a versatile range of sounds that has allowed me to sing party songs, social awareness; and such range has given me the ability to express myself musically without limiting myself to any single specific genre or topic.

As for my name MJ Sings: The name MJ Sings came from my government name initials, which are Mncedisi Jeremiah; and the Sings part came about as a mistake at a talent search audition when the presenter announced my name as “MJ Sings” instead of saying “Today we have MJ and he’s going to be singing for us.”

THC: When did you realize you have a passion for music, and how did you get in the music industry?

MJ: I was literally forced to join school choir by one of my teachers as punishment . Music was always a hobby from like 11yrs and something I thought everyone can do naturally coz I would always eavesdrop when my mother was singing her hymns and it also came effortlessly with me .

When I was around 15, we started a boy band with my friends and that’s how I slowly started to get introduced to the industry, local festivals etc then in 2015 I auditioned for Dreamstar and everything quickly started making sense though I only pushed as far as the Top 5.

Soon after that I met the legendary Cal_Vin, got under his wing and released my first single. And after that, I never looked back. Hence, we’re here.

THC: What’s been the highest point of your music career?

MJ: There are quite a lot but writing for Speedy from Bongo Muffin has been one of those highest moments I’m proud of.

Made me confirm the possibilities and our capabilities as not only a Zimbabwean artist but as an artist that comes from a city that had been negative about the arts for years.

For the first time I saw the advantage of speaking in isiNdebele/isiZulu.

THC: And what’s been the lowest?

MJ: My lowest moment in my career was when I was in South Africa.

I had a record deal offer from a Sony division label which ended up getting me to move to SA full time only for the deal to get dropped when I was there due to contractual disagreements.

I was stuck in SA for about four years; embarrassed to come back home empty-handed.

THC: We understand the Umuzi album launch plus release is coming to life soon. What does the album mean?

MJ: Umuzi means HOME and the term came from back in the days when women would go to the river and cut the reeds that were going to be used to roof the huts .

Those reeds by the river are called Umuzi and they were a representation of the nurturing spirit of a woman .

The album takes you on the journey of what Umuzi means to us as Africans and the reality of what we go through in hopes of attaining it.

THC: What inspired the album’s major storyline?

MJ: The album has been in the making for years. I’ve always wanted my first album to be vulnerable and introduce not only MJ Sings but Mncedisi to the world .

It’s a beautiful narration of my life stories , aspirations and the people and events around me but all coming together as branches of the tree that’s Umuzi.

THC: How many tracks the album has, who produced it and where was it produced? And collaborations on the album?

MJ: The album is a 13 track project, produced by a long friend whom I met at the same audition were my stage name was birthed.

His name Is Beke and I also have an upcoming kid on the block called Ntu2kay; he’s absolutely amazing.

The album was recorded and produced at DAB THREE STUDIOS but the pre-creation of the album was in a small one room that Beke rented.

The environment allowed us to be raw, authentic and trace some of the footprints that were laid to us by our influences.

I collaborated with Thandy Dhlana on the title track Umuzi and how she delivered and introduced the first song of the album is just amazing.

I’m a strong believer of collaborating beyond just singers so I worked with a lot of instrumentalists on the album such as Kinah the music, Sam Siwela, Daniel Ndlovu, Ray Solo, Benjy Beatz, Mandelson and Mthabisi .

They made the pieces that were missing, come together.

THC: What is the album release plan looking like?

MJ: We’ve been slowly rolling out the project and the response has been amazing and we hope by launch day the whole of Zimbabwe would be paying attention to the narrative.

The goal is exporting the talent globally so we’ve been getting our hands busy by knocking at some doors outside as we believe in the global potential the album has.

THC: What should old and new listeners expect on the album launch date?

MJ: I definitely think both the Old and New listeners should definitely buckle up because it’ll be a new experience for them as they’re only used to Single’s MJ Sings so having a full project would be a new experience for both of them and one that I pray and hope will have a timeless impact in their lives.

THC: For new listeners who want to know you better, which of your previous works will you refer them to?

MJ: Konke is one of my absolute favourite songs right now.

It was taken from my album sampler that I released late last year and it connects with the album that’s on the way.

THC: What is your general feeling about the space Zimbabwean music is in right now?

MJ: We have serious potential to be global phenomenon’s and it’s only a matter of time but my greatest wish is to start seeing more collaborative works that are not limited to just our small circles .

The world Is bigger than Zimbabwe and if we can set our eyes on growing beyond that , we will be unstoppable.

THC: Cats or dogs?

MJ: Dogs, definitely dogs. HAHA!

THC: Pizza or burger?

MJ: Burger.

THC: Any word you may want to share with listeners and other artists too?

MJ: Do what you can with who and what you have around you , it’s only a matter of time.

These are the words I go by all the time.

THC: Is the dichotomy between Harare and Bulawayo artists a real thing or a tragic imagined fiction?

MJ: It’s just a narrative that has been pushed for years by individuals and it ended up getting normalised.

Every time I’m in Harare, I get so much love.

I think the business side of things gets in the way a lot but yet important.

The day we’re all set on global domination we will put numbers aside and focus on cross collaborations and creating beautiful music that has no barriers.

THC: Your favourite musicians in Zimbabwe?

MJ: I have a lot of favourites but on top of my head there’s Takura, Jah Prayzah, Msiz’kay, Nutty O, Kyla Blac; the list is endless.

THC: Your favourite producers in Zimbabwe?

MJ: By default we start with my album producer Beke, Gangster Made It, Murphy Cubic, Tamuka, Dakari, Oskid, Rodney .

The new wave of producers Is just a beautiful breath of air.

THC: Where can people get in touch with you? (social media handles)

MJ: My contact details, including those for booking enquiries are as follows—

Facebook: MJ Sings

Twitter: @iammjsings

Instagram: @iammjsings

TikTok: @iammjsings

YouTube : MJ Sings