The reggae empire that the late Evison Matafale built at the dawn of the new millennium is facing its toughest test, and probably, its fall. The coming of Evison Matafale in 1999 with his first album, Kuimba One, changed the shape of reggae music in Malawi. He also added onto the already built legacy of musicians from Chileka, especially Singano village, where well known musicians like Dr. Daniel Kachamba and the Fumulani brothers of the Likhubula Band hailed.
Evison Matafale trekked down to Zimbabwe to work in white man’s farms. But while there life was not that easy for him. His half-brother, the late politician, Davis Kapito, had to bring him back to Malawi in 1998. While in Zimbabwe, Matafale was composing songs. He grew up in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, a denomination well-known for its emphasis on the power of music in a person’s spiritual life.
That is where he learned singing. But growing up, he started being influenced by the Rastafarian beliefs, which are closely related to the Adventist ones. Thus after coming back to Malawi he worked with his cousin, Elias Chokani, who had then started the reggae music singing group, the Wailing Brothers. He released his first album being backed by the band.
But disputes made them to break up and Matafale eventually formed his own band in 2001, the Black Missionaries, and used it to back him in his second and last album, Kuimba Two.
After the death of Elias Chokani, Matafale roped into his new band band Elias’ brothers, Paul and Takudziwani. He added onto them another set of his others cousins, sons of the Likhubula Band founders, Anjiru, Musamude and Chizondi, plus another cousin, Peter Amidu, who was previously with Jai Banda’s Uhuru Band. This was the Black Missionaries Matafale left when he died in November 2001.
But what happened later on would be a puzzle Malawi failed to solve until its rejected pieces had said something about it. At the covers of the albums the band came up with, there were only four faces of Anjiru Fumulani, Musamude Fumulani, Chizondi Fumulani and Peter Amidu. The Chokani brothers were never part of the set. Even on the posters the band would use to advertise its shows, the Chokani brothers were never seen, although they always played with the band. It was sold to the Malawians that the Black Missionaries band was made up of only the four people.
Their other cousin, the Late Gift Fumulani, the son of Arnold Fumulani from the original Fumulani set, in 2003, instead of joining with his other cousins in the band, went solo. The story says that there was a short family disagreement over his decision. The conspiracy theory says that the 2004 Kuimba Four album by the band, the song ‘Unali Wabwino’ (You Used to Be Good) was an attack on their cousin for his decision. The song laments a certain man who used to be good but ended up doing things on his own. He is then advised to be with his family, forgive if he was wronged and not go after money because it will never burry him.
The truth of the matter rests with Anjiru, the man who led the song on behalf of the band. But Gift had a successful solo career and it led to one of the biggest questions in Malawi music: How good the band could have been had Gift been part of it. Gift is said to have declined the offer to join after he was refused a leading role in the band. Maybe he had observed the fate of the Chokani brothers and did not was the same thing to happen to him.
Fast forward to 2016. The Chokani brothers started showing signs of severing ties with the Black Missionaries band to revive the Wailing Brothers band started by their late brother. It started as a rumor but eventually it would show that the Chokani brothers were indeed no longer part of the band. The release and the launch of their album, and the absence from the Black Missionaries band confirmed the end of the relationship.
With the Black Missionaries now at Kuimba Ten, in their Kuimba album series, the numbers can tell how much they have worked hard to keep the dream that Matafale had founded and the trust he had shown in them. Eight albums after the death of the founder is a long journey. There have been mixed reactions to their work. But their recent projects have received the feedback of being copies of their previous work. The kind of music is the same and people have gotten used to it. The band is not musically as influential as it was, say in 2006.
With the Black Missionaries band suffering in influence, the rise of the Wailing Brothers will be one of their challenges. For the second time, someone of their own blood has decided to rival them. They survived it during the first time. But that was when they were at the top of their music journey. Will they survive it this time that they are no longer favorites of people and critics?
But the story goes further than that. The Wailing Brothers, in their shows, are featuring the the brother to Evision Matafale, Toza, and brothers to Gift, Moda and Arnold, who took on the mantle from the brother who died in June 2006. They have not had successful careers, but it says a lot. Their choice to involve themselves with the Wailing Brothers rather than the Black Missionaries band reignites that 2004 moment their brother had with the band.
There are now two Fumulani camps in Chileka. All are playing reggae music and fighting for the same audience. For now, it may seem everything is going on well. But as time goes, the distance between these two will keep on getting long. If the Black Missionaries band will not improve in their performance, Chileka will for the first time in its history suffer a reggae music vacuum. Let us face it; the Wailing Brothers band will need a good number of years to be good as the Black Missionaries band. Eventually, all the bands will have no influence in Malawi reggae music. That will be the fall of Chileka. If ever this moment will come, we will look back at 2016 as the genesis of it all.
