Rhumba Music on a sick bed as Franco releases latest offering

Local rhumba genre seems to be on a sick bed as for a number of years artists of the genre have failed to drop albums which are enjoyed by their fans in the process ditching the genre in the dustbin. Local rhumba giants which includes Jeff Matheatau, Franco, Tumza and the big bullets and Alfredo Mos and Les Africa Sounds all seem to have lost the fire as supported by unavailability of hot Kwasa albums locally for a very long time.

 Last year, no rhumba artists made it musically as none of them managed to produce a hit like in other genres like Afro pop where artists including Charma Gal gave their best and even walked away with gongs at music award events.

Franco who has been the only hope remaining in the rhumba circles also did not drop any hit last year as it used to be case. The last hit which went on to propel him to stardom  locally was Siphiri se dule and his recent newly released album Eya le nna babelone is a luke warm album which seems not to have been dearly hugged by his fans.

Unlike with his past hits, his new album is nowhere to be heard in local bars and illegal shebeens like it was the case with his past hits including Robala Nnana, Ke Lela le lona and Siphiri sedule.

Gilbert Sealogile of PP promotions differs with VIBE on Franco’s new release as he maintains that it is a hit which needs time for people to appreciate it over time. He explained that at times an album might seem like it’s a flop while in actual fact it's a hit.

“When an album is newly released, there are factors at play which will make the album to be either a hit or a miss. Radio airplay and promotional tours can activate an album to be a hit as shown by Vee’s Taku Taku when it first hit the market in 2005. I never believed that the album will be an instant hit until after some few months when the song Taku Taku climbed and dominated music charts for a very long time.

Therefore, I still strongly believe that Franco’s Eya le nna babelone will rise to the occasion towards the end of winter if it can be given ample time on the radio stations,” he said.