First, it was Zanku, but Naira Marley’s lamba sound is gradually fading. Here’s why.
When Naira Marley burst onto the scene basking on the euphoria of his controversial single, Am I A Yahoo Boy, we all saw him as just another street-pop artist similar to Zlatan who was popping at that time or Small Doctor. Hence, we reasoned, the timeframe for his survival in the industry was going to be short. Then again, he had a problem, his sound wasn’t defined then.

After he got out of prison, his sound started to relate and connect. Cojoined with storytelling detailed about different spheres of life, his sound began to make sense.

First, it was the viral “Soapy” with its corresponding dance trend told about life in prison and now prisoners coped with sexual urges. Then, the enthralling melodies he and Young Jonn cooked up on Mafo. That was the sound. That was when it clicked. His self styled lamba sound. Balanced with multi-layered drum arrangements. Here was the sound.

NAIRA MARLEY’S PROBLEM


But here was the problem. We as listeners don’t like repetitions of the same sound. Once, twice might be ideal but having several duplicates of the same sound would result in its eventual death.

One thing that makes a sound fade away is when there are low-quality versions of the sound. Or when every nook and cranny tries to create the same sound the same way, no difference or addition, a major factor that contributed to the demise of the Zanku sound.

The songs that would follow Mafo followed the template of Mafo. Similar pattern, repeated drum arrangements. Apart from Tesumole which was popular owing to the dance trend, the Lord of Lamba EP didn’t bare much impact on the scene. By January, we had forgotten about it.