Who is Mariachi & Alkamai and what does the name mean
Mariachi was born David Chitate. I adopted the name from the movie ‘Desperado’. I figured if I could flow the way he strummed that guitar, and lay bars down that move people the way he moved the audience with his music; I’d be on the right track.
Alkamai was born Cliff Makaza. The name is derived from the ancient science of turning ant metal to gold, and my take on it is every bar I drop is golden! I jus played around with the spelling and Alkamai was born.
Tell us more about this whole Purple Blazer movement, is the album out yet?
M: Purple Blazer is a collabo album that Alkamai & I did which is a wake up call to the game locally, regionally, internationally. We got in the studio and said to each other, whatever we produce here has to compete with international releases, and that’s the fundamental that guided our beat selection, flows and the project as a whole.
A: At the end of the day, the finished product speaks for itself and that’s not us being cocky or anything... it’s just us believing in our product and believing we achieved what we set out to do!
The album is out on limited release at the moment as we work towards a sick official launch come summer time. So if you’re a Die-Hard fan U can cop yourself a copy if you talk to us nicely!
Who did you work with on the project from producers to artistes?
M: We worked with a total of 7 producers on ‘Purple Blazer’… (Tracks in brackets)
Tags (5), Nemesis (2) F.T.R (2), Marc Blaze (1), bigMIDGET (1), Kinda Cute (2), Ezra ‘Mr Brand New’ (1)
A: Artists we worked with are Samantha Voice, Cindy, Tags, Adiona, O-25, Simms 27, & Prayer Soul
What inspired purple blazer?
A: Well the name on the face of it, is a tribute to our alumni… Churchill High School. So its basically a shoutout to all the Bulldogs out there… holla at yo boys!
M: That was initially how it came about. But as I got to thinking during our creative process, we wanted our project to be the dopest out there… of the highest level. And the colour that best represents the highest level is purple which signifies royalty. The blazer is given to sportsmen in sports like golf as a symbol of the highest achievement… hence, ‘Purple Blazer’, the hottest hihp hop album out right now!
What motivates Mariachi/Alkamai?
M: The belief that the talent I’ve been given has barely reached its potential and that keeps me going.
A: Music is in my blood… I mean im a qualified Accountant and all, but music and specifically Hip Hop, is my passion.
I've heard some peeps make Jay Z reference to your flow, how do feel about that and and what u gotta say?
Well the problem is people don’t think anything original can come outta Africa/Zim, so they always make comparisons… He sounds like so and so, he dresses like such and such. I admit there may be sum tonal similarities in our voices but Im NOT JAY, NOT tryna be him either… I AM YACHI! Anyone who’s listened to my music will tell you that the content, flow and everything about my music is ALL ME!
At the end of the day, like Jay says tho: ‘Do you dudes listen to music or do you jus skim thru it?’
Did you open up for Sean Kingston and if so how did it go down?
M: The Sean Kingston performance did not happen. We got there on time, but they wouldn’t let us do soundcheck… some other cats were actually there after us and they did theirs! Then come showtime, they call us and tell us to open the show… without having done soundcheck and to an empty ground. That shit don’t fly! So basically we politely declined.
A: I mean they had dancers and people singing covers and ish… typical opening acts. We were there with original, quality material, but they wanted the Blazer Boys to take a bullet, and we Matrix’d our way out of it!
Sean Kingston received a lot of back lash from the media and fans, what really happened at the showgrounds
M: There’s not much we can say that wasn’t already covered in the media to be honest. He was lip-syncin and people caught on, and his whole ‘I can DJ’ routine didn’t go down well either! Other than that, I think the other major problem was people are so used to Tuku, ChesoPower etc being on stage for 2-3hrs, but international acts have a standard 90mins performance clause which I think the public is never told about!
How do you feel about international artistes coming to Zimbabwe?
A: I welcome international acts… but only if it’s done right. You have situations here where local acts are called up to open for international guys simply cos they have a following, but most times their music isn’t relevant to the show as a whole. I mean how are you gonna bring Mai Charamba to a T.O.K show for example?
M: To add to what Alka’s saying, how can you possibly have local artists getting an opportunity to collaborate with International acts if the music is incompatible? Promoters are focusing on the dollars… maximizing profits, and treat local acts like trash. They don’t wanna pay, they don’t even give you refreshments or accreditation for After Parties etc… NAC or ZIMURA or some1 needs to look into that.
As an artist what can u say about local music in terms of quality and exposure?
M: The quality is definitely on the up-and-up… Just listen to Purple Blazer and you’ll know what I mean!
A: Arrogance aside, there’s a lot of quality in terms of production etc, but ther’s still a huge gap in-terms of exposure or rather access to platforms that can get you the exposure. Videos are expensive, Internet connectivity is not cheap or fast, and this is in an age where almost every aspect of music has gone digital?! WTF?!
Any videos??
So far we have a video for ‘Heart’s Farewell which is off ‘The Mariachi Code’. Nothing for Purple Blazer yet. Its on youtube…. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=heart%27s+farewell&aq=f
Other links:
Album Review
If U aint copped yo copy... thisis wat U missin out on!
http://opium.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=128:album-review-mariachi-a-alkamai-qpurple-blazer-q&catid=40:reviews&Itemid=82
Fan Page
www.facebook.com/MariachiCode
Press Kit
Jus us being us... killin it #Death2FRESH
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150212562734525.331667.37055119524&l=5059da47fb
Contacts
077 486 0284 (Manager)
htfzw.ent@gmail.com (Bookings)