Producer: AT 'Rubber' Khoza
Engineer: Selwyn Shandel
After making her name fronting Ntombi & Survival, Ntombi Ndaba went solo in the late 80s. Her band also did their own thing, releasing The Big Mechanics in '89 as The Survivals, and continued to back her on Mina Ngilijaja. It's vintage bubblegum that shows off Ntombi's powerful vocals and songwriting skills, driven by uptempo synths and the complimented by the emphatic backing vocals of The Angels. The title track ('I am the judge') is a self-affirmation of note ("You can't tell me what to do!"), 'Flood' references the classic 'Pule ea na' by Hugh Masekela, Mara Louw, the Black Five and others, while obligatory slow jam 'Weakness In Me' is an uncredited but impressive cover of Joan Armatrading's 1981 hit.
