This is to all music lovers out there, you will soon be pumping through your speakers with hits from Jacob Zuma, the former President of South Africa. According to a statement released by senior eThekwini official, he is set to record a full-length album featuring mostly struggle songs.
“We were looking at artists and trying to revive these types of songs. It was very difficult. We tried to find any archived material that had video clips or any voice clips. But we could not find anything in the museums,” said Thembinkosi Ngcobo, the head of Parks, Recreation, and Culture.
The idea of having Zuma sing the songs was conceptualized three years ago at an event in Durban. Around that time, they noticed that Zuma had the habit of singing these songs; most of which are unrecorded.
“He has the talent and understands the history and emotion behind the music. He was singing the songs in the 80s and 90s and even before,” continued Ngcobo. “Most of the young people in the ANC do not even know them.”
Ngcobo further said that most critics of Zuma would agree that he had a talent for singing; and dancing.
“We gave him the background of what we wanted to do. He then started talking about other things. But before we left, he said he was happy to be part of the project.”
Zuma might be recorded live either on April 10 or 11, during the Articulate Africa project. A project that celebrates the expression of culture and ideas.