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Bornwise Mtonzi Arts Reporter—
When the forceful wave of the popular Zimdancehall genre swept through the local music industry a couple of years ago, most critics took it as a passing whirlwind. The genre got more powerful in 2013 although it was generally believed that it would “soon pass” like what has happened to many other fly-by-night genres. But the wave is still here and it seems to be getting more powerful. It has recorded another successful year in 2015 and it seems ready to conquer 2016.
Other genres have been affected and the many young musicians from the ghetto have made their presence felt in many spheres. The genre has managed to live longer than it was expected as the youths have continued to make sure that, like Jamaican dancehall, they fight for the genre’s constant recognition. The genre began its serious dominance after young musicians, predominantly from Mbare, made a serious impact.
With the sprouting of so-called ‘backyard studios’, such as Chill Spot, Sunshine Studios, Gunhill, Nhubu, Givenchy, Mt Zion and Vigilance among others which made use of cheap computer software to produce relatively quality music the genre managed to outgrow other beats.
The genre was battered by critics that viewed it as portrayal of cultural decay amongst youth in the way it glorified violence, promiscuity and drug abuse. Now, most dancehall artistes have resorted to clean lyrics and some have come up with fascinating social commentary songs. Tocky Vibes is largely credited for coming up with the era of clean lyrics since most of his counterparts were obsessed with negative influences when he became popular with ‘sane’ tracks.
During its peak in the year 2013 the genre saw the coming in of different artists among them Seh Calaz, Ras Pombi, Kinnah, Bounty Lisa, Killah T, Freeman, Soul Jah Love and Lady Squanda, to mention but a few as the list is endless. The artists have managed to make the genre so popular that it became a household beat that has overtaken some popular local styles.
Zimdancehall was once associated with vulgar and some dirty lyrics but to date most of these artists have grown up and desisted from such music and opening a new era of mature music though there are still others like Platinum Prince who are still obsessed with vulgar and violence.
The coming in of Tocky Vibes with his singles “Simudza Maoko”, “Mhai”, “Kudzamisa Pfungwa”, “Hama Dzakatisiya” and “Ayenda Nenyika” saw the beginning of mature Zimdancehall as his massages were about the social issues and the respect that the artists should have to what they sing.
Listening to the music one can easily see how the genre has completely matured and Killah T’s “Ngoma Ndaimba” is a perfect example of the new era. His songs such as “Kukosha Kwechikorobho”, “Itai Ndione”, “Zvese Zvandairota” and “Takumbofarawo Kani” are testimony to the maturity. Winky D in most of his songs is against violence and social injustices and he encourages the youths to desist from drug abuse unlike in the previous years where he used to concentrate on rivals.
The once vocal artistes in rivalry Seh Calaz and Soul Jah Love have reformed, opening a new era of peace in the dancehall industry as they had managed to settle their differences and began to collaborate with their latest songs such as “Nguva Yezhihza” and “Moto”.
To prove the popularity of this genre most of these artists have continued to release singles which have managed to keep the ghetto and uptown youths in love with the music thus prolonging its life in the industry.
New players in the genre emerge daily and new songs are also released daily. Zimdancehall awards were introduced last year to honour the outstanding performers of the year thus showing how people are appreciating the genre. One of the sungura giants Alick Macheso was once known for criticising the genre but later on turned the tables and went on to appreciate dancehall to the extent of performing some impromptu pieces of the genre at his shows.
Suluman Chimbetu went to the extent of collaborating with Soul Jah Love on his song “Nyuchi”, a sign that the players in mainstream music cannot resist the power of dancehall. In separate interviews, some Zimdancehall fans expressed satisfaction in the manner in which the genre has transformed.
“I remember the days Zimdancehall started to make noise in the streets, it was something else as the artists were involved in singing vulgar, and it was mainly associated with violence. Then, I never wanted to attend any of their shows but now it has matured,” said one fan identified as Farai
Another fan echoed the same sentiments saying, “Zimdancehall has changed and I hope it’s going for the best as it was once associated with violence and rivalry from the sides of artistes but they have now changed”.
Success is not only measured by the number of shows and new players in the industry but by the social transformation that the genre has brought. Most of the ghetto youths have managed to change the ways they perceived the genre and they now see it as a source of inspiration. Many youths have joined the dancehall train. In an interview with this publication one of the well known music promoters Patson Chimbodza of Chipaz Promotions acknowledged how the genre proved to be successful.
“Zimdancehall has become one of the most successful genres in Zimbabwe and we only want now is to preserve it and make sure that it does not just die. Looking in the manner in which the genre has improved the artists have become mature,” he said. “What we now want is to make sure that our artistes are exposed to the outside world that one day they would also be called to hold shows in Jamaica.”
He added that what makes him happy is that the artists are no longer singing hate language showing how mature they have become though there are some who are still on the road to maturity. Other fans from Mbare echoed the same sentiments adding that what the genre now need is consistency and focus.
“Hatichadi kuterera zvemarara isu, tanga tanzwa nevanhu vanoshandisa dancehall kutuka vamwe. We have now passed that stage to maintain its dominance and love from fans the artistes should now focus on mature music so that the genre will not die. We still want to continue listening to it even in the next coming years,” said David Kasimu
Zimdancehall artists have been holding successful shows since the beginning of the year among them Harare Cup Clash, Summer Slam and as support acts to Jamaican musicians that have performed in the country since the beginning of the year.
In 2014 violence broke up between Soul Jah Love and Seh Calaz fans leading to a fist fight at a Sting concert that was held at City Sports Centre. The fracas resulted in injury of some fans.
Such was the face of dancehall but it seems someone warned the artistes to put their careers ahead of their differences. However, Zimdancehall which is a subgenre of reggae, has been on our music sector for a long time before finally taking over.
In Zimbabwe <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe> the genre,started in the late 80’s with the rising up of local sound systems like A1 Sound, Startime sound which exposed mic chanters like Culture T, Allan Ranks, and Dudz who was way ahead of his time to ride on riddims imitating their Jamaican icons at the same time creating their own style.
It was not until the emergence of independent studios and the arrival of urban grooves <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Urban_grooves&action=edit&redlink=1> in 2001 that opened up the doors for many artists with the coming of stables like Chamhembe and Chigutiro that mainly benefitted urban grooves musicians but also brought to fore dancehall artists like Trinta and Sniper Storm.
We cannot talk of Zimdancehall without mentioning names such as King Shaddy, Guspy Warrior and Snipper Storm that have been around for many years.
These have continued to raise the Zimdancehall flag high and leading by example. Winky D is also credited for leading the genre in a big way. No matter how many times the genre has been criticised it has managed to continue dominating and sending shivers down the spines of many established artistes in other genres.
Online Reporter