By Simon Mulenga Mwila
To our artists currently being hired to sing praises for UPND Government and President Hakainde Hichilema I hope you are being paid well, because music is a business. But please, don’t forget that art is also a voice of the people.
We are living in a time when families are struggling to put food on the table, youths can’t find jobs, corruption is growing, and load-shedding has become part of our daily routine. Amid all this, it’s painful to see talented artists, the same ones loved by ordinary citizens using their gifts to glorify a system that’s clearly failing.
I know there’s nothing wrong with getting paid for your craft. You deserve to earn from your hard work. But when your lyrics become tools to polish the image of those oppressing or neglecting the people, you have crossed a line. You are no longer entertaining but you are endorsing.
Every song that praises what’s wrong is like pouring perfume on decay, it may smell nice for a while, but the truth always comes out.
Music should inspire, heal, and speak truth to power not silence it. The greatest artists in history didn’t sing for presidents, they sang for the people. They stood on the side of truth, even when it wasn’t profitable.
So to our artists… We love you, we support you, but please remember: when you sing for the powerful, you silence the powerless. Don’t trade your voice for a cheque. Because when the music stops, it’s the people not the politicians who will still be standing with you.
Please ba musician speak for us. Don’t sing against us.
Yes, criminals should feel oppressed.
Did you expect to steal and commit crimes with impunity?
Kamo “Dununa Reverse”.