attention for it. Now I strive to
fuse them and create masterpieces.
CLS: How has your journey been
as a music artist?
JJB: My journey has been an
interesting roller coaster. Things
happened so fast since I came out
in 2016. I have been privileged
to perform at some of the biggest
platforms in Malawi and work
with great artists too. The media
houses have showed me incred-
ible level of support. I soaked in
a lot of game from the likes of Q.
Malewezi and that pushed me to
go hard. It has also brought about
pain, frustration and depression. I
am seen as an inspiration and the
voice for the younger generation.
That is such a huge blessing.
CLS: You mentioned to me that
you are a big fan of M.anifest; tell
me how/where did you discover
him or his music?
JJB: I first heard of him on Prov-
erb’s “fourth write” album in 2013.
His verse on classic “ProVerbs
Manifest” was incredible, kudos to
Pro too. I was astonished to hear
such crazy word play and flow.
Often we would talk about that
song with my friends in college.
It made so much sense when I
learnt he is from Ghana.
CLS: Does he have any
influence on you or your
music?
JJB: Inspiration would be
perfect. He has inspired
me to ride on an ongoing
quest to find my voice and
style
CLS: Ever been to Ghana?
JJB: Not yet, chale
CLS: Are you voting in this year’s
36 | Colossium . March 2019
Rapper
Writer
Poet
He is arguably the
fastest rising, pas-
sionate, and inspir-
ing force coming
out of Malawi. He
first came to the
showbiz scene in
2016 under the leg-
endary Q. Malewezi
and has been
consistent hence
being one of the
most highlighted
artist by the media
in Malawi. He is the
founder of No Child
Left Behind which
uses arts, education
and activism to fos-
ter change among
young people.
presidential election? If yes, which
candidate are you voting for?
JJB:Yes. Dr Saulos Chilima
CLS: What would you say about
political stability and socio-eco-
nomic development in Africa?
JJB: We have a handful who are
doing well but for most part it’s a
worrisome situation. From Zim-
babwe, Kenya, DRC, Libya the list
goes on. Malawi is no exception.
We have all this potential to be the
best continent ever yet we seem to
smell and yell struggle. When we
move up the ladder, the west fuels
propaganda and there we go down
the drain. We can’t stop and we
must not though.
CLS: Thanks to technology, we are
much connected than before. In
your opinion is technology play-
ing any role in the development of
African music?
JJB: Absolutely! Technology has
made Africa and the world smaller
and reachable. It has also given
some artists false confidence to
just jump in studio and record
because they feel like they
can. For most part I have
seen tremendous progress
in connecting Africans to
our music and the world at
large.
CLS:What do you have to
say about digital distribu-
tion of music in Africa?
JJB: It’s so frustrating. We have
a lot of work to do and no won-
der we resort to the major digital
stores because we may not have
the best structures to work with
ours. Poor copyrights policies and
royalty fiasco. I have not yet dis-
tributed my my work on local