UNEARTHING LUDIE WYZONE
Born Wilson Mbotera, Ludie Wyzone started music in the year 2019. He started music because of the influence of his friend who encouraged him to try recording vocals in the studio than just write lyrics as he was doing back then.
So far since 2019 the reggae-dancehall and afro beat artist has twelve projects in which all of them are singles. He once attempted recording an extended play (EP) but just because some tracks were taken-out he failed to release it as a single project.
The artist has recently released a song titled ‘Azidziwa’ which was produced by Stich Fray and it was mastered by Viddiex Fyah. The song has backing vocals by female dance hall artist called Grewiz Aseh. The concept behind the song is encouraging men and women to go public with their relationships especially when it comes to social media. Of late there has been a number of complaints from both genders that they do not get shown off by their partners on social media and this song addresses this issue.
The artist explains in the song that men are supposed to be ‘posting’ their partners on their statuses be it on the most used instant messaging application WhatsApp or the world’s famous social media application Facebook.
The song is now available for streaming and downloads on websites like www.malawi-music.com, and www.audiomack.com, one can also access the track on the artist’s YouTube channel. The song has also been played on air on various radio stations. Before this song the artist has worked on tracks like ‘Litsiro’ which was produced by Jeydak and Fobra, ‘Dinyanya’ produced by Jeydak and ‘Mnzanga’ produced by Viddiex and DJ Langie.
Talking of other collabos he has worked on, the artist has worked with Ainno Busy, Black Zing, Inflomish Lion, Aus G and currently he has a song which he has featured Jay Chris. The artist doesn’t charge for collabo when one wants to feature him only when he sees that the project will benefit him as an artist. And when it comes to selecting artists he wants to feature in his projects content is what matters since he only makes positive music only.
Just as every other up and coming artist he has faced challenges in his career. The first one being he has not been able to market and promote his music, due to financial problems. Besides that, he has been having trouble connecting with fellow artists who can actually help him connect with the right people in the music industry. The other problem is that the trending stories on social media such as scandals distract people’s attention from newly released music.
Asking the artist what he thinks must be done for up and coming artists to benefit from their music he responded that “I think registering with COSOMA to follow up loyalties after their music has been played on air is one way that most up and coming artists are supposed to do here in Malawi. Also encouraging people to purchase their music if they can. Lastly getting managers to help making the correct decisions because mostly we as artists tend to make wrong decisions”.
There were moments when the artist felt like quitting music. Firstly, when he shot a music video but things didn’t go as planned in terms of reaching a wider audience. Secondly there were instances when audio producers gave him songs which weren’t fully worked on. Even though this happened he managed to get back on track after he made efforts to have more airplays on TV and as for the audios, he changed producers.
The artist believes he can do better than he is doing now by shooting good quality videos which will help him penentrate the international scene. Besides music Ludie Wyzone is a student studying at Luanar NRC campus he is currently doing the programme Agro food processing. Asking him how he manages doing music and school he responded that he does music during holidays or at the beginning of the semesters and he does not record when school gets serious.
Ludie Wyzone believes that it is a bad idea to drop out of school and do music only as its not guaranteed that one will make it right after they start making music. School benefits a musical artist by shaping the way they think, so that they can overcome challenges and make good decisions.
The way Ludie sees the industry now is a bit different from the way it was in the past as it was smaller back then. Most up and coming artists were able to blend in after a short period. Even though that is the case the artists weren’t benefiting comparing as to now, that the industry has grown and that music has started paying off.
About the artist’s pseudonym he says that ‘Ludie’ was read elsewhere while ‘Wyzone’ made artistically from the words ‘wise one’. The artist’s most memorable moment is when he gave out an energetic performance on Times TV’s Friday Night Live show which was hosted by DJ Smoke. The performance is memorable because it was Ludie’s first time to perform without lead vocals. The artist resides in Blantyre, Chilomoni township and he is aged 21.
