adminKumbirayi Shoniwa Entertainment Reporter
The history of urban contemporary music in Zimbabwe began in the early 90s when youths started recording their music on cassettes but radio stations did not play them due to poor quality of recordings. The falling of computer prices led to the establishment of backyard music studios which were powered by mostly pirated music-making software such as Fruity Loops, Q-base, Pro Tools and Logic.
The quality of music improved and this led to it being played on radio stations, especially after 2000 when the Minister of Information decreed a higher percentage of airplay for local music.
One of the pioneers of urban grooves, Jamal Nyika Mataure, was a talented keyboardist whose career began in the so-called backyard studios and led him to produce the hit song “Kurwizi” with singer Betty Makaya. Other notable “backyard” producers who have gone on to make it in the industry include Macdonald “MacDee” Chidavaenzi, Flash Gordon and Russell “Russo” Chiradza, whose initial studios consisted of a computer, keyboard, mixers and microphones located in small single rooms. Tafara “Mjox” Joga of Emflatini Studios in Mpopoma has managed to produce about five artistes whose songs went on to be hits in the city of Bulawayo and beyond and believes backyard studios are the backbone of local urban music.
“It is not true that our rooms are not fit for purposes of music-making because music is dynamic and through advancement in technology we are now using software that allows us to produce tunes of high quality regardless of the venue we use,” he said.
Zimdancehall artiste Kelvin Kusikwenyu aka “Killer T” proudly boasts of using a backyard studio where his hit songs “Tirikumhanya”, “Makarova Gunners” and others were produced.
Prominent urban contemporary producer Mono Mukundu, whose protégés include Hope Masike and Mathias Mhere among others, defends the use of backyard studios as long as one has the necessary music software.
“It is really about the software and the man behind the (producer’s) desk, and less about the equipment. Even overseas producers like David Guetta use small machines with up-to-date technology and that is enough to make world-charting hits,” he said.
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