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| Love in the air as Mzbel sings ‘kisses’ |
10/11/2007 |
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The third collection of songs by Mzbel demonstrates the young lady''s resolve to pop up and glow no matter the circumstances that seek to dim her shine.
Titled Kiss Me, the long awaited new album is timely since the air around Mzbel these days smells only of love and that same theme is reflected in most of the songs on the album.
All the songs, including the title track, are very danceable. They were recorded by two of the best engineers around, Jay Q and Appietus.
Being very familiar with what one can describe as the hiplife formula, they have provided Mzbel with appropriate, though sometimes very similar, ''beats'' to comfortably sing and rap in her own sassy manner.
Kwabena Kwabena and Shegee of Tripple M lend support to Mzbel on Kiss Me. There''s reasonable synergy between the trio on the track and very typical of Mzbel in her lyrics, there is an ingredient of a beguiling lass keen to entice a guy as she sighs:
Kiss me now on the back
Kiss me kiss me on the lip
If you kiss me
I''ll show you the lollipop.
Castro and Mzbel have worked together on several occasions and they appear to jell pretty well. In fact, the first voice heard on this album is Castro''s referring to himself as The Destroyer and to Mzbel as The Wonder on the E Dey Be song. There''s a possibility that could be the hit track from the album.
Castro is heard again on Me Pe and The Letter which incidentally happen to be a Twi translation of the famous 1960s Bob Dylan and Everly Brothers hit, Take a Message To Mary. Another artiste who establishes compatibility with Mzbel on this album is Shilo. He evokes fascinating images with his Ga raps, something really delightful if you understand the language. Kofi B has been in the limelight of late and he is on Fa ye Me. Also featured on the album are Screwface and Wolers.
The thing about most hiplife and contemporary highlife, however, is that very little room is created for instrumentalists to be heard, whether playing phrases in unison or soloing. The moment the vocals come in, they almost always dominate the songs till the end even if magnificent players are part of the recording team. The Kiss Me album suffers the same fate. Though there are instrumental versions of ''Fa Ye Me'' and ''Me Pe'', they are virtually the same tracks minus the vocals. It seems they were included just to extend the playing time on the album.
Getting on stage to entertain is the thing Mzbel knows how to do best and the eight songs on Kiss Me sound like the right items to ginger her. She will, undoubtedly, ride on the wings of the new material to excite audiences at the shows she has lined up between now and the end of the year.
Mzbel''s two previous albums, ''Awoso Me'' and 16 Years consolidated her presence on the local scene. Some of the songs on those albums became very popular, at least for the way she performed them on stage. She has gigged outside the country on a number of occasions and has supposedly acquired sizable fan bases along the West African coast and beyond.
It is early yet to say how Kiss Me will hold music fans but there are familiar elements on it which will definitely delight many people, especially her die-hard fans.
Source: Graphic Showbiz/ Nii Laryea Korley
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