From the book Poor and famous, by Clive “Mono”Mukundu

It is believed that the attention span of people around the world has gone down, so people no longer have much patience, as a result, whatever you do you need to get straight to the point otherwise no one will listen to you. For example, if you meet Strive Masiiwa or Bill Gates in an elevator going to the 4th floor, are you able to sell him your ideas in such a short space of time to the extent that they can give you an appointment? That urgency is what is needed to meet the current attention span needs.

So this has also affected music creation worldwide, eg American pop & Jamaican dancehall music. To have any chance of getting anyone’s attention, your content needs to get right to the point, as a result the music now has short intros, the vocals come in very early& the chorus has to be heard before the first 50 seconds. In my new book, I took a look at some artists who are knowingly or unknowingly using this concept effectively in Zim & its working.

P. 147″ International hit concepts in the Zimbabwean context”

There have been a few changes in the Zimbabwean songwriting styles recently. The songwriting rules used in current western music pop are very much influenced by Swedish songwriter Max Martin, who is responsible for the majority of current American pop hits. The catchiest part of a song, which is the chorus, is fitted within the first 50 seconds of the song so that it quickly gets its key elements heard without wasting time. Part of the reason for this is the theory that I mentioned above which says that the attention span of modern people has been lowered. The theory says modern people do not want their time wasted so one has to quickly get to the main point.

I then quickly noticed that, knowingly or unknowingly, our biggest hits that are very appealing especially to youngsters in Zimbabwe currently also follow most of those rules. I took a close look at some of the biggest hits. Top Zimbabwean artiste, Jah Prayzah, has effectively used some of these concepts on most of his songs that went on to become hits. I started analyzing his music closely after his 2016 hit album, Mdara Vachauya, and this is what I found:

Chorus
The choruses of his biggest hits always come very early before 50 seconds or slightly after 50 seconds. For example, in the hit song, Mdara Vachauya, the chorus comes in at 23 seconds. On the other big hit that he collaborated with Tanzanian star, Diamond Platnumz, Watora Mari, the main chorus of the song comes in at 15seconds. The choruses are repeated several times during the songs.

Melody
one of the key rules is respecting the melody more than the words. The melody must be composed first, then you fit in the lyrics to the melody in a way that makes the lyrics serve the melody and not the other way round. One has to ensure the vowels fit in the melody without changing it. The end result is that the songs have a sing-along and repetitive melodies. The repetition creates familiarity which makes the listener easily remember and quickly adapt to the song. Taking a look at Jah Prayzah’ssongs, you will notice that his melodies on the verses are very simple and easy to remember. They almost sound like choruses. He even puts a second harmony line on some of the verses, like in the song,Mdara Vachauya. Of course, most Zimbabwean musicians, particularly Sungura artists, use this two-part harmony system on verses, but it is the catchy nature of Jah Prayzah’s melodies that I want to focus on.

Although I have recorded him many times, I have never asked him about his writing formula. But by listening to his music all one needs to know is there. Most artists, particularly gospel musicians, are so concerned about putting the message across that at times they prioritize the message and the lyrics over the song melodies, so their verses are sometimes not very melodic and get very long. It is as if they want to sing the whole one-hour sermon in a song. The end result is that the song is understood and appeals to only those who understand the language or are serious fans of the artiste. It will be difficult for it to appeal to outsiders. Music fans first fall in love with the melody and then, if they love the song, they will learn the lyrics.

Short introductions
One other rule of the modern ‘short attention span’ era is that of short introductions. Most of Jah Prayzah’s introductions are very short and he does not take long before he starts to sing. On Mdara Vachauya, he starts singing at 6 seconds. On Watora Mari, he starts singing immediately when the song starts. Most modern popular music including our own Zimdancehall, the Naija beats, etc. all follow this rule. They do not waste time. As soon as the song starts, they come in, sometimes even before the instruments start.

Sungura musicians traditionally take long before they start singing. For example, Leonard Dembo used to take his time before the first vocals come in. His biggest hit song Chitekete’s vocals starts at 1:01 seconds. On Shiri Yakangwara, the vocals start at 53 seconds while Nzungu Ndamenya’s vocals start at 52 seconds. Dembo could be excused because before the vocals came in you would stay captivated by his very rich and melodic choice of notes. His guitar would literally sing for you before the vocals.

Most singers in Zimbabwe traditionally start the first vocals after 30 seconds. Alick Macheso’s hit song, Tafadzwa, vocals start at 38 seconds and on Shedia, he starts singing at 37 seconds. On Bvuma, Tuku starts singing at 50 seconds.

This attention span theory could be very true of Zimbabwean musicians. A closer look at the songs that have made it very big in Zimbabwe, especially from 2015, reveals that they follow these rules. Soul Jah Love’s hit, Pamamonya’s chorus comes at 50 seconds, Winky D’s Disappear’s chorus comes at 35 seconds, Tytan and Ammara Brown’s collaboration, Mukoko’s chorus comes at 23 seconds while her collaboration with ExQ, Bhachura’s chorus comes at 33 seconds. When you compare these with some yesteryear hits, for example, Oliver Mtukudzi’s Tozeza, the chorus starts at:2:40seconds.

So I think it’s important for composers to take note of this theory & move with the times.

From the book “Poor & famous“(2018)
Author: Clive “Mono” Mukundu
Edited by: Philip Chidavaenzi & Bernadette Mari-Deve