Album Review: Sanii Makhalima - The Manuscript

Sanii is an icon when it comes to urban music in Zimbabwe. He has been in the game for long and he has been releasing hits after hit, classics after classics, tracks such as Ndefefeterwa, Hakuna Mumwe, Ndipe Rudo, Ndimbundire, Pauri Ndaperera...etc. Despite being a amazing vocalist he is also one of the best producers in the game today. On his Birthday he released a new album and gave it for free as appreciation to his fans for sticking with him all these years. So as a fan I downloaded my copy and got to listening. After some time, Its now time I give my views and thoughts on the album.

The album contains 10 tracks and will be doing a track by track review below:

1. I Surrender

Sanii's lovely vocals greet you and usher you into this jam, laced with some soulful keyboard work. The overall instrumental is sounding good. This is a track one sings when they are fed up with a relationship, when one has tried everything to keep the relationship going but to no avail. Sanii is now saying I love you and want to be with you but you are being very difficult and I am fed up with whats going on, you shall miss me when I am gone. Sanii's vocal perfomance was strong and on point. Lovely jam.

2. Unodei ft Andy Muridzo

The went for a sound that was popular during the early day of the urban grooves movement here. It not the usual Sanii kind of sound but its sounding okay. The instrumental helps in accommodating the different styles of the artists. Sanii is more RnB and Andy Muridzo is more traditional. The vocal performances were quite good, the two artists blended quite well. On the track they are saying they are willing to give their everything to a lady but the lady always shun them for the flashy guys, the big spenders, ma blessers. So they are asking her to consider what she really wants. Its a situation that more evident these days, some ladies are leaving those guys who love them for the big spenders.

3. Kuchengera Rudo

As the track implies this track is just saying being possessive is love. If someone loves you they do not want to share with anyone and being possessive of you is sign of their love to you. Sanii is saying its okay to be possessive, it doesn't kill and its not a bad thing. The vocal perfomance is also good, Sanii really knows how to arrange his vocals and lyrics, the track is just smooth and lovely. Love how he drafted the titles of some of his hits on the track. The instrumental is arranged in a reggae kind of way and its sounding good. Nice jam.

4. Wakandiri Hauchandida ft Trevor Dongo & Takura

The intro is lovely and soulful. A bouncy bass line and kick pattern follows. The whole instrumental arrangement is done very well, the beat is sounding awesome. Lovely work on the production. This track is about that situation whereby someone who has broken up with you, citing that they do not love you anymore is now coming back to you saying they love you and miss you. They return after you have nursed your heartbreak and have already found someone who treasures you. So you'll be asking them what has gotten into you, you made me cry, you broke my heart, I tried to fight for us but you said no, why then are you coming back. This has happened to a number of us, some exes always return just when you have completely gotten over them and cause a lot of confusion. The vocal performances are solid, Sanii & Trevor are among the best vocalists in Zim and they showed why they are regardless as so here. Takura also added a lovely flavour to the track. All the artists blended very very well. Solid jam.

5. Ndimbundire

This was the first single to be released from the album and did a review of the track a couple of months back read the review: (Ndimbundire Track Review). In summary its still sounding awesome and one of my favourite on the album..

6. Rusingaperi

On this track Sanii is saying I will give you never ending love. He is saying there are many ladies in this world but your are the only one for me and I will give you all my love. Lovely. The vocal performance from Sanii was very good. The instrumental is also lovely, it helps bringing out the message and has this magical feeling. This track creates that "in love" feeling to the listener, its just lovely, simple and on point.

7. Chitsidzo

From the onset one will get the feeling that this is going to be a grand and magical jam, the wind chimes, the lovely keyboard work, superb vocals from Sanii and the lyrics all point to that. Sanii is saying my promise to you is that I will love you with all my heart. The lyrics are on point and its a perfect song for that first dance between a husband and wife on their wedding day. Sanii's vocal performance was superb on this track, he just hits the right notes. The instrumental is also sounding good. When the chorus starts laced with that rock guitar for, its reminds me of Kudzai Sevenzo's classic jam I Don't Know Why. Powerful and lovely jam

8. Baba Lo Mama

This is an emotional and appreciation track from Sanii. He is just showing his appreciating to his parents for raising him to be the person he is today. Through all the problems he caused them whilst growing up he is thankful for their nurturing and support. The vocal performance was good. Love the jit/crowd part. The instrumental is mellow and fitting for such a theme and track. Lovely jam.

9. Crazy ft Trey XL

On this track Sanii is saying I am crazy about my lady and he wants to be with him forever. She is her joy. Sanii gave a good performance here. Trey XL part is a bit polarizing for me, some parts are okay some not so good, he gave the track a different dimension but it did not work as they expected. The instrumental is sounding good, in overall its an okay track.

10. Ndipe Rudo (Remix)

This is one of Sanii's most popular tracks to date, it was released in 2014 and it became a major hit, it was loved by a looot of Zimbos. It was one of of the best if not the best song of 2014. He decided to give the album a reggae flavour. He did not change the vocals, he only changed the instrumental and the end result is another superb jam. 

Download the album: The Manuscript

In overall this is a very solid album. Sanii was superb throughout the album. The instrumentals are sounding good, regardless of them sounding similar to a certain extend they are sounding good. Sanii has stuck with his Urban Grooves Movement inspired kind of sound, the sound is proven and it will appeal to a lot more Zimbos...this is our own sound. The lyrics are the winning part of the album, the major theme is Love. Love has a lot of aspects and Sanii tackled a number of them very well.

Its definitely an album one can listen to from the start to the end, its balanced and has a uniform feeling/vibe that makes its smooth as one switches from one track to another.

Enjoyed a number of tracks here, my top 3 favourites are Rusingaperi, Ndimbundire & Ndipe Rudo. I do not completely dislike any track, only the Trey XL part felt a bit off to me.

Proud Zimbo Rating : A (82%).

What are your thoughts on the album??

Proud_Zimbo