JOIN DRIVERN TAXI AS PARTNER DRIVER TODAY!
Sobre’s Heart of A Giant album launch at Lusaka Play House on the 23rd of November started on Zambian time-meaning it was late. The show was advertised to start at 15:00hrs but it was not until 16:30 when B-Boy dances opened the floor with their break dance skills, which had show goers cheering.
Then came Jesse. His performance was the best of all the curtain raisers. His poetry had people shouting encore. His 3 minutes or so poem was packed with slick word play it was astounding to imagine he could master all that without an error, but he delivered and when he left everybody stood up in a standing ovation.
Sobre came on with a live band and begun the show by thanking God for his salvation. “ Three years ago I was a drug addict, an alcoholic and had chronic depression. I was so depressed I used to make depression sound like fun.” He said, making a light moment of a past that would have killed him if he had not given his life to Christ. “But I am here today as a testimony that God can really change people so I just want to give him Praise through my music and tonight we are all going to have a great time.” He said as he signalled to the band to start playing.
The people stood to their feet as he delivered ‘Ni Mulungu’ a song he that features Mag44 who for some reason could not be there to sing his part. The crowd was singing along, and the backing band was doing their best to assist Sobre when he would stop singing to talk to the crowd about the goodness of the Lord.
The show came alive when he brought out Pompi to perform ‘Orthodox’. Cameras were flashing, people were waving their hands in the air and the band was playing full throttle. For a full 4 minutes the music was in the air and when the set ended Sobre hugged Pompi, who bowed to the throng of people before making a graceful exit off the stage.
By this time Sobre was perspiring and just as he was about to begin his next set, he noticed Abel Chungu in the crowd so he called him on the stage to help him sing ‘Party Animal’,which also features Mag44 and Pompi, who came on to the stage for the second time to drive the fans into a frenzy. The energetic song demanded an even more energetic performance from the three giants on stage. Abel Chungu let loose with dancing and even the mostly reserved Pompi shook a bit as they supported Sobre to launch his debut album off Lota House.
Asked how he felt about is album launch, Sobre said he was happy the project was finally out. “There have been a lot of challenges but eventually things have turned out well. So my album the heart of a giant, there is a story behind it. Like I was on stage I really was messed up in drugs and alcohol but through the grace of God I came out of that so I called this album Heart of a Giant to reflect the things I have gone through to get here. Even the name Sobre is actually Sober to say there is soberness in my life.”
The album has a lot of dancehall inspired songs on it and Sobre elaborates on its sound. “ I am basically a dancehall artist but I like to do different types of music because different types of people like different types of music.” Sobre chuckles at his own wordplay and continues, “But then I love dancehall music”
“The album is being sold at Megabytes Internet Café at Arcades and Woodlands and then in other parts of the country, I will be taking it to three cities, that is the Copperbelt, Lusaka and Livingstone and on this tour people can come to the shows and buy the album. This is a deliberate move to get people to come to the shows where they get buy a copy of my CD.”
When you sample songs like ‘One Thing’, ‘Mutwelele’ and ‘Big Thanks’, you can see why Sobre is making a difference with his urban Christian dancehall. Heart of A Giant has many stories in it, but mostly it’s an album of a young man who is in love with God.
H.M.
