Locally recorded song makes ECR’s Top 40
Black City Records presents Gloire Mapenzi’s Signs
17 December 2019
A single with a strong social cohesion theme from Durban record label, Black City Records, Signs, has made it to the East Coast Radio Top 40 this week.
This tenacious record label is the brainchild of Chatsworth’s Yogan Naidoo, the songwriter of Signs as well as record label executive and, Shooks Dorasamy the label’s non-executive director. Signs is performed by Congolese national and Durban resident, Gloire Espoir Mapenzi, known as Gloire.
In April 2019, Gloire released, what most describe as a tour-de-force single Signs which has received outstanding acclaim and has been featured on major radio stations all around South Africa such as East Coast Radio, Durban Youth Radio, Hot 91.9 FM, Radio Namaqualand, Smile FM , RMR 89.7 FM, and Zone Radio.
Gloire is a soulful singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and live performer who performs original music on the Durban-based label. Gloire is a self-taught musician who started playing guitar at the age of seven. In the course of his career, he has worked with local and international artists such as Miriam Webster (Hillsong Australia), Andrew Bairds (Mango Groove), Frederick (DRC), Mike D (Uganda) and Wilaine Nshonzi (DRC). His musical influences range from Hugh Masekela and Jonathan Butler to contemporaries, John Legend and John Mayer.
He is a regular feature at the Alliance Francaise de Durban – most recently at their Beaujolais Nouveau Festival of music and wine, at the Spaghetti and Jazz event held at Spiga’s restaurant at Alliance, and at their Franco-Fete earlier this year. He also performed as guest soloist with the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra for their FNB Soiree Series this year.
On Saturday 14 December, Gloire’s hit single Signs cruised into East Coast Radio’s Top 40. Black City Records, whom Gloire is signed to, recognise music and its power as a unifying asset that supports Africa’s developmental agenda and cultural reform.,
“Africa is more than just a sense of place it is also a sense of mind. The Black City Records vision serves as a credible platform for embracing that larger identity of being African in our country, the greater continent and the wider world. As such, we are a proudly Durban based independent recording label focused on delivering world class and meticulously crafted popular music to local and international audiences. East Coast Radio has been phenomenal in supporting our vision and a great partner in our journey to success. We’re both excited and humbled that Gloire’s Signs has made it into the East Coast Radio Top 40 and look to greater heights to achieve,” Says Black City Records’ manager Chenee Green.
Listen to the single Signs on all digital music platforms. The lyric video is at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzmRacvFC6M
Signs
