Satori – @MunhumutapaTheDon
Title: Satori
Artist: Don Franco Tafari
Genre: Reggae
Label: Legion 16 Records
Executive Producer: Don Franco
Release date: 15 November
STREAM: Youtube | Soundcloud | Audiomack
Satori: “You can call it Tabatha, suchness. ‘Suchness’ is a Buddhist way of expressing that there is something in you which always remains in its intrinsic nature, never changing. It always remains in its selfsame essence, eternally so. That is your real nature. That which changes is not you, that is the mind. That which does not change in you is Buddha-mind. You can call it no-mind, you can call it Samadhi, Satori. It depends upon you; you can give it whatsoever name you want. You can call it Christ-consciousness. I call it SATORI” Don Franco Tafari
There’s currently a debate doing the rounds on social media about how Afro-beat is seemingly or threatening to take over Dancehall, one camp says it’s evolution of music another camp is simply putting all the blame on radio broadcaster’s doorsteps, promoters and fans for the failure to keep dancehall alive, but what brings me here is the new project “SATORI” by Don Franco Tafari, the “One Drop” hit maker dropped a free project for all his fans who have been patiently waiting for their fix. According to Don Franco the reason for releasing a “project” rather than an album was that they were scheduled to release his Album ‘Last King of Axum’ In January ’19, but went on Tour to Gambia so they delayed the release, upon returning, there was the SAMA awards hype and they did not want to release an Album when everyone else was releasing projects . He then got in a deal with one of Mzansi Biggest Music distribution Giants who wanted him to redo the Album and make it commercial by adding pop, a bit of house and hip hop so the deal was cancelled. In the midst of all that He met his current Manager who had a different 2020 Album release plan but due to the delay and impatient fans they decided to drop Satori while they polish the Album.
Satori ebbs and flows with emotions that reveals ones man hunger to heal wounds of a broken society, a man who’s journey has not only been fueled with Love and Pain but one who has also persevered through it all. His music is evolving, or rather Satori reveals a man who has gone really deep in his soul to understand spirituality, alas still manages to preserve the “mutapa (Kingdom)” feel that his fans have come to know him by.
Songs to look out for on this project; “From a place” is a very beautiful song about a man that has fulfilled his mission and is telling his brethrens and sisters that his family has been inquiring about his
whereabouts and now that his mission is done he leaves the baton with someone who can carry on where he left. “Africa is dying” is one song that is not coated in chocolate icing and a million 1000’s, AFRICA IS DYING and our leaders are seemingly oblivious to all that is happening in our beloved continent. Ndaiti Ndiwe (I thought it will be you) featuring Cliftan the Mysty Warrior is an emotional song dedicated to one of his friends who lost his wife during childbirth, this is heartbreaking as we rarely bare in mind how sensitive child birth is. A Sister of mine who recently gave birth penned this on her Facebook page upon giving birth to a healthy baby boy “Going to labour is a matter of life and death. Some come back, some do not. And so we give thanks when we come back in one piece with living mothers and living babies.”
‘Bad like Shabba’ taken from Tesla riddim which was released earlier this year makes a feature and brings with it a welcomed breather from the ‘heaviness’ of this project.
Satori is a project that should remind us all that even though we are bound to evolve (as we should), and experiment. We should always keep in my mind that there is nothing wrong with taking a bit of the old into the future.
Don Franco Tafari has set a very high bar for himself with Satori. Will ‘The Last King of Axum’ keep up!
Munhumutapha.
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