Nze Nkulina: Azawi digs into classic RnB bag

On Sunday, Azawi did something we have not seen a Swangz Avenue artist do. Drop a song without turning the drop into an event of sort.

Usually when Swangz Avenue releases a song, they tease it and then move on to announce the dates which are usually a Friday or Thursday.

Nze Nkulina was almost unceremoniously dropped at about 4pm, at least going by YouTube at about 4:45, it said the song had been available for less than an hour.

Why this was unceremonious, last week, Azawi dropped a song, Talking Stage, a song we shall probably later learn we were not the target audience (I mean that song landed but didn’t slap) and in a week later, more so on Sunday, she dropped again, that too is unlike Swangz.

Anyway, Nze Nkulina, Azawi goes retro, picking from her 1990s RnB pocket – smooth, cool RnB that will definitely remind a music head of the Mo Town music days when Boyz 2 Men, Brandy and Monica became a fixture on charts.

Azawi, however, doesn’t try to try to be a vocalist she’s not on this song, she brings her dancehall and afrofusion into the mix and it seems to work perfectly.

But the most important aspect that works for Nze Nkulina is a fact that it has a way of not sounding new, it’s like you can slap any RnB song from the 1990s and the 2000s and it just works… Think about a Another Level’s Freak Me, Ginuwine’s Pony, Mariah Carey’s Touch My Body or even Twisted by Keith Sweat.

That music is known for its soulful melodies, smooth harmonies, and danceable, dynamic beats, often exploring themes of love and relationships.

That should inform you that Nze Nkulina is about a relationship, and if you have listened to Azawi on Fwa Fwa Fwa, you definitely know girl can get explicit. On her African music concert, she had a choir back her up as she did the song.

See, choirs can back all sorts of songs, at least Enya taught us that, but most of the time, people believe choirs are meant to be religious.

Do you know the other psycho who loved choirs? R Kelly, the man who for more than 25 years defined the genre Azawi tackles on Nze Nkulina.

Be it, I Believe I Can Fly, Gotham City or Storm is Over, Kelly always had a choir, at some point, people believed he was a gospel artist. Yet, when the man went down to compose an explicit song, you could think he was seeking a blessing.

Nze Nkulina will tap into a certain audience that probably would not have given Azawi ears, those who thought she was probably too young to be vulnerable.

Nkulina is Azawi changing the narrative of her music and probably forcing Ugandans to listen to music, especially after that regrettable 2024 year of music.