WINDHOEK– Namibian’s top live performing artist, Big Ben Kandukira, has releases his First Collection album, featuring the new hit single, 1000 Tears, The Crazy Dance, Ekaku and Mbatondjala.
The album is a collection of ten songs, namely Ondjerera, Ndjiisira , Katjivirue, Kamanguere, Mbakumua, My Land, Kamangurundu, Okinikini, Mburuma and Makututuma, from previous albums that Big Ben has been releasing since 2000. He re-recorded the songs and combines them with four new singles and come up with a 14-track album. He says the album is for his fans that have been asking for his old albums. “There is no point in printing five or six old albums all at once, when I can re-record songs from old albums and combine them for a new album,” explains Big Ben.
This collection is done to also recognise songs in old albums but did not get the recognition they deserve, songs like Ndjiisira that was released about eight years ago, but which this time around t has a successful on it, and Ondjerera a tarck on the Moro Moro album but no one pays attention to as Moro Moro overshadows everything. Now these songs can get their own attention, because they are out of the shadow.
“The song Okinikini makes me who I am, and most contribute to the idea of coming up with the First Collection, as lot of my fans are asking for the album that has that song,” affirms Big Ben. The whole album is at the other level but there are some of songs that he regards as the best. Songs like Ndjiisira, Makututuma, 1000 Tears and Ekaku. “Ekaku and Makututuma are my favourite songs . Ekaku best describes my music and the way my fans react to them, and Makututuma is a mixture of different traditional rhythms and sounds from different tribes. When I touch the guitar and play it, things just happen,” says Big Ben adding that the album is a combination of all kinds of music. A second compilation will be released in four months.
By Sabina Elago