.  P jay

By CHUSA SICHONE –
Brian Cheengwa’s siblings have presented the deceased artiste’s posthumous ZMA to his mother as her birthday present.
Brian aka P-Jay posthumously won the Best Songwriter award in the category which consisted of Israel (formerly Exile) and Mulenga Kabaso.P-Jay’s younger sister Bertha took to Facebook to post among other photographs, one of her mother holding the award in question.
Bertha said in an interview after she and her brother Benjamin ‘Da Future’ received the award that the Cheengwa children were going to give the accolade to their mother on behalf of P-Jay as her birthday present.
“This is a very good thing because tomorrow (April 12) it’s my mum’s birthday and of course my brother (P-Jay) is not here to give her a gift or something but this is something that we will dedicate to her as a gift or a present that is coming from our brother, P-Jay,” she said.
Bertha said she was overwhelmed and broke down upon learning that P-Jay had scooped the award as she thought the award was going to be won by either Israel or Mulenga.
However, she said it was high time P-Jay was recognized for his work as he had been nominated several times but did not win, adding that she was grateful to God that Brian was finally honoured.
Benjamin ‘Da Future’ thanked P-Jay’s fans for making it possible (through their votes) for his brother to finally win an award but was saddened that Brian was not alive to see what he wanted come to fruition.
‘It’s sad (that) my brother (P-Jay) isn’t around. He really wanted to win when he was still alive but anyway only God knows. Thanks a lot to all who voted,’ Benjamin’s Facebook status read in part.
Benjamin’s remarks ended with a birthday wish to his mother.
He reiterated that three P-Jay posthumous albums were scheduled to be released under XYZ, Digital X and Cabin studios.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Da Future has promised to continue from where P-Jay left off, hinting that he is currently in the studio working on his debut album and has so far released a single called Chintobentobe.
“Actually, I only have one single called Chintobentobe but am working on my album under the Chant-it-on Empire. Probably my album might drop on my birthday, the day that he (P-Jay) died, the 21st of December,” he said.
P-Jay’s close friend and fellow artiste, B-Flow, was also on hand to receive the posthumous award, which he said was also a dedication to P-Jay’s fans. H said even if Brian had not been winning awards, he knew that he was the best.
Besides the posthumous award, several artistes paid tribute to P-Jay by singing some of his songs during the ZMAs.
P-Jay died last year aged 30 at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) where he had been admitted following a road traffic accident which happened when the singer was travelling from the Copperbelt where he had gone to perform.Katebe says Topsy’s Invitation and subsequent brilliant performance is testimony enough to the entire African continent that Zambia is rich with talent.
“This makes us proud as comedians as it is an indication of more doors opening for the Zambian comedy talent, I am personally very proud and happy for my colleague and I would only urge him to aim even higher,” he says.