UP-AND-COMING gospel musician Janet “The Black Box” Mhlanga recently penned a song on COVID-19 titled The Big C, themed around the virulent pandemic’s widespread effects including the interruption of normal life around the country.
BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA
Mhlanga was forced to put on hold the production of her 10-track album, Who Am I? after the outbreak of COVID-19 but was inspired to add a COVID-19 track onto the project.
“So many people have died because of the COVID-19 scourge globally. The track is meant to comfort those who lost their loved ones and also for sensitisation to curb the spread of COVID-19,” she said.
The Harare-based mother of six released her debut album in February last year but it did not do well because it did not get enough airplay.
Mhlanga said she grew up in a Christian family where she was inspired by her father Thabani Mhlanga, who was a United Church of in Zimbabwe choir master in Chipinge.
“When I recorded my two-track CD in February 2019, it coincided with my daughter’s wedding which was on February 16, and I actually performed at the function.
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Now I was working on my second project and it coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak, so I feel I should join other musicians in fighting the scourge,” she said.
Explaining her stage name, she said as a devout Christian, she felt a person’s heart was their “black box” just like on a plane, which should direct their steps in life.
“The same happens with an aeroplane if it develops a fault the technicians will just look for the black box,” she said.
