Vorticella returns after nine-year break

Former Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMAs) nominee Vorticella announced its return to the music scene after a nine-year absence.

The group has been making music since 2011 and includes Johannes ‘Fancy’ Leo (25), Nghidishange ‘Ramcy’ Hafeni (23) and Festus ‘Feezy’ Mweendeleli (23).

The ‘Beautiful Sindano’ hitmakers last week told The Namibian they are back with a bang and prepared to take over the industry with their new music.

Ramcy, who spoke on behalf of the band, said they are gearing up for their fourth album, which will consist of 15 tracks.

“This project is based mostly on Afro-pop grooves, as usual,” he said.

Most of the tracks were produced and recorded by DJ Dozza and K-Dio from ABK Studio, he added.

“On this album, we decided to work with four artists: DJ Dozza, K-Dio, Drawer Loco Sound and Zombla.”

Ramcy said the album is expected to be released in early September.

In the meantime, they are hard at work preparing to drop a new single at the end of June, titled ‘More Money, More Friends’, which is about people only having friends when they have money.

The trio grew up at Okuryangava in Katutura, an area in Windhoek that is abundantly blessed with musicians. Together they discovered a passion for music as they grew up.

The trio has so far released three albums, with the last released in November 2015.

They say they first did music as a hobby but have now decided to make it a career.

These hard-working boys have collaborated with various artists, including Mushe, Tequila, 2ko, Koxa, Sandra Blak, Neslow, Nedu, DJ Dozza, Memba and Tripple X.

They do Afro-pop alongside West African beats. This is inspired by their background, which was full of hardships.

According to the group, the Namibian music industry is limited in terms of different types of music, but that doesn’t mean they are limited, since their previous albums consist of dancehall, kwaito, love songs, message songs and shambo.

Vorticella earned its spot as one of the best groups in the Namibian music industry after scoring two nominations with their first album, ‘Omanyakwa’ at the 2014 NAMAs in the Best Group/Duo and Best Shambo categories.

From there, they made their mega move to one of Namibia’s big records, M-Records, owned by multiple award-winning musician Mushe Albert Uulenga. This is where they made the albums ‘Africa’ and ‘Motivator’, featuring Tequila, Mushe, Sandra Blak, 2ko, Koxa, DJ Dozza, Neslow, Ama Daz Floor and many more.

The group also managed to score two nominations in the 2015 NAMAs for Best Duo/Group with the hit song, ‘Africa’, as well as the Best Gospel category, with the song ‘Kapuna’.

According to Feezy, Vorticella makes “music for all”.

He said everybody can listen to their music, young or old, since they are against vulgar and offensive language.

On their upcoming album, they are also looking forward to working with various well-known artists that won or were nominated for NAMAs, such as Exit, Oteya, Dixon, Neslow, Gazza, Kalux and Satlam.