South African Maskandi artist Malibongwe Zuma releases his five-track EP “Ngiyababa,” featuring a rotating cast of collaborators on every track.
That structure alone says something about the project. Instead of leaning on one main feature, Malibongwe spreads the collaboration weight across the entire EP – UMnotho shows up on three of the five tracks, joined at different points by Mjabulisi, Jikijiki, and Usduh Dladla, while opener “Ayisuka Uyadlala” and “Obachelor” stand as his only solo cuts. That’s less a guest-feature EP and more a Maskandi cypher stretched across five songs.
Closer “Ukuk’thanda Yebo,” produced by Siphephelo Ngcobo and released through Zeligeh Trading with Sony Music Entertainment Africa handling distribution, carries the EP’s most quoted line so far – a hook built around loving someone without begging for it back, the kind of proud-but-wounded sentiment Maskandi has always done well.
Running five tracks total, “Ngiyababa” doesn’t overstay its welcome. It reads more like a tightly edited statement than a full album stretched thin, each collaborator getting just enough space to leave a mark before the next voice steps in.
Listen to “Malibongwe – Ngiyababa” and drop your comments below!
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