GUEST WRITER
Sound the royal trumpets and summon the subjects; thy scribe was mistaken.
Last year, I wrote an article titled “King without a Crown?” about the enigmatic career of the GRAMMY-Nominated, Michigan-residing Zimbabwean reggae crooner, King Isaac, in which I noted large gaps between releases, and a seeming inability to break in to radio and other mainstream spaces, despite making decent to great music still, collaborating with international heavyweights (including Chaka Demus just a few years back) and, of course, aforementioned credentials.
The King was gracious in his response, citing barriers to getting back on to radio stations among other things, but also pointing us to his more recent works (to be fair, he has been relatively consistent throughout the 2020s.)
Egg in my face.
Since that article dropped; the King has been on a tear; a tear I tell you. His anti-drug anthem, Usatore Mutoriro, topped the Classic 263 annual charts for 2024 (read as: the only non-Ndanyura song to top the annual charts of any of the legacy radio and TV stations in the land), making it the second year the song had charted, having come in at #13 the previous year. Oh, and Mukai Tinamate, a September 2024 release, also charted on the annual chart, and is still in the top ten right now. King Isaac has also dropped singles for the New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Independence Day and, now, he has dropped a new album.
Debuting on Radio Zimbabwe on June 20, the 12-track Zvaida Kutendwa brought together several of his singles from recent times, including all the ones dropped throughout the first half year, as well as a couple of brand new tracks, including the title track.
Oh, we didn’t mention this earlier; the King happened to be back in Zimbabwe at the time of release, so the Radio Zimbabwe release turned into a two-hour live show. The previous week, King Isaac had shared the stage with the likes of Alick Macheso and the Charambas at the Bothwell Nyamhondera Appreciation show at Seven Arts, treating the audience to several songs from Zvaida Kutendwa (reports and footage suggest that “Humbe Kumbe” and “Usatore Mutoriro” were especially popular on the night) and, since then, has been hitting the local radio circuit, promoting the new album.
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| Giving Thanks: King Isaac at the Bothwell Nyamhondera Appreciation Show (June 14, 2025) |
Now, I hear you barking, big dawg: “Is a 12-track album that features only a couple of brand new joints really an album, or just an algorithm-baiting playlist of old songs masquerading as an album?” And that would not be an unwarranted charge, given how often that happens in the era of digital streaming: even at the highest levels of the game.
But, as stated earlier, a full two thirds of those songs are 2025 releases, and the other four are also from recent times, but outside of the Classic 263 audience and diehard fans, the masses have probably not heard them. But most importantly, it makes for a compelling album: an album living up to its name in gratitude: gratitude for the gift of love; the gift of music; the gift of a God who cares.
After I spent time last year talking about how little I heard of the king, it was only right that I came back and told you all that, since then, I’ve been seeing him all over the place.
And that, to quote one smooth-crooning regent, “zvaida kutendwa.”
Long live the King.
Listen to the new album by King Isaac below:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2AWTxcBfKGNu8Ju0q4GE5d?si=TkI4cYZPQOSdVQr6otAlhg
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