adminUrban Beats with Nkosilathi Sibanda
IF there is one chaotic situation brewing in silence, right before our very eyes — it is the division among artistes in Bulawayo. The rift is not in the public eye, yet other players in the business are blind to that. It manifests in the realm of each art genre. The outsider will not see it. Artistes, musicians counted first, are good pretenders — masters of show entertainment. You cannot sniff their dirt. In public they are always clean.
Artistes give the impression they are a united family. That happens for a while. Being pretenders has left some of them poor, both materially and mentally. There is a kindergarten way of dealing with musicians, especially those of the younger class.
The media has been either protective or in the dark about the enemity in the entertainment biz. It all looks good from the outside. On the other side of that fake veneer of celebrity, the artistes sometimes do not enjoy each other’s company. Smiles on stage are not the same to a fellow singer in a rival band.
In conversations with as many musicians and players of instruments in the city, I gathered a nasty trend. Musicians do not speak well of each other. That is why all promising collective projects have failed. A case in point is the Bulawayo Music Association (BMA). Khuxman and others are toiling to revive the musical grouping. Their call for support has fallen in clogged ears.
Just because Bulawayo musicians do not believe in each other’s potential, points to a bleak future.
“I am the best. They cannot beat me.” This is what you would hear artistes say in interviews. The assurance is encouraging, they are dreaming big.
After talking to many of them, the statement becomes a repeated pain. In their quest to succeed and outshine each other, musicians lose track. The harmony that existed among artistes when Bulawayo still enjoyed being the arts and entertainment capital is in the history books.
Owing to the change in the nature of business, focus is now on the individual. The model is noble in some way. The problem is in the pumped up individualism it has brought. Like all things foreign, we embraced the idea of exploring alone, and bands separated and went into oblivion. This still happens and individual stars are born out of bands.
Beyonce was part of Destiny’s Child and so was Sandra Ndebele at Iyasa. It appears the idea works well as these “pull away” stars have done well in their careers. The downside presents a nasty picture. Individualism in music has been taken too far. Going solo invites enemies and creates tension in the city.
Musicians no longer care for each other’s business like before. You hear whispers at one dead musician’s funeral. The same whisper you let your ear receive when another muso is in trouble with debt. Is there not a solution to close the rift, before bridges run out? Recently, I got wind that the Bulawayo Music Association was headed for a collapse. The city’s musicians are not forthcoming to register.
It pains as a passionate fan, to read that musicians are snubbing BMA. Among the ideals of grouping is to offer the city’s musical talents a platform to build relationships. Not just musicians knowing one another, but having tea with record companies and studio executives. How else will gigs spread out if musicians and promoters do not know each other?
This is part of an inch of the journey in our discussions to put the whip on the sleeping musical industry. We, the fans in the urban movement know that you guys — the musicians are giving us a raw deal. You do not practice what you preach.
Backstabbing and failure to appreciate one another has led to the pile up mess in the city’s entertainment business. Getting record deals and lunch dates with executives isolates the musicians. By the time you blink, they have relocated to Harare. If the grass is greener, go for it my cow!
Some may deny it but it has to be said. The good part is that others admit that artistes are partly to blame in making the city a music dumpsite. The sudden slump of the city’s musical products lies in the disorder that exists in the industry. I would hate to compare Bulawayo with what happens in Harare. The two are worlds apart. What needs to be emulated is the partnership that exists.
The ego and jealousy that builds up is what eats up a handful of music stars in the city. We live in these streets — we see them every day and we know their pain. Business is at an all-time low. The city is broke.
Musicians be warned: The one man for himself mentality is cancerous. So, Khuxman, keep on trying to convince these singers and players of instruments to make up and be jagged up. Associations such as the BMA are needed to transform the entertainment business.
Let’s talk further. What else has been happening on the streets?
We all remember the good old days when radio stations played local music all the time. Small time and underground artistes made names and became household favourites. The mother tongue has returned. In all genres, African languages are finding space in popular music circles.
Young musicians seem to have realised they can make it big through the mother tongue. Do you think the Spice Girls would have been household names in Britain if they sang outside their cultural context? Even Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi would have failed if he sang as if he were American.
Young musicians are stopping at nothing to preserve the language heritage. They have turned advocates to re-educate the lost generation. We have musicians who are not only good at the mic but, born activists in the fight to restore African identity in the wake of the threat caused by the internationalisation of music.
The right to choose what your ear listens to cannot be tampered with but, it begs for a mind shift if we are to keep the language heritage in our music. Why would city youth laugh at the Gwanda folk who dance to Ndolwane Super Sounds.
Music should be universal in every language. If it means being melodious in English, so be it in Swahili. The world would embrace music from anywhere, whose rhythm can sway and endear us without the need to know the language.
System Tazvida, James Chimhombe, Cephas Mashakada, Lovemore Majaivana and Fanyana Dube all sang in vernacular and taught timeless truths. Charity begins at home!
I hope it sounds well. Musicians clean up the kitchen and make up. Seat for dinner together and talk. It is only you who know where the money is.
Let’s keep the conversation on twitter @nkosi legend.
Online Reporter