adminAuxilia Katongomara Saturday Leisure Correspondent
THE recent flop of urban grooves rapper Desmond “Stunner” Chideme’s show in Bulawayo comes as no surprise as the city has proved to be a hostile territory for the artiste. The award-winning rapper has proved to be a crowd puller in his hometown and is one of the most sought after urban groove artistes in the country.
Despite the controversial sex tape with girlfriend and BBA star, Pokello Nare two-years ago, the star continued to shine by churning out more hits.
Stunner, despite being one of the architects of urban revolution in the country, has failed to impress fans from the City Of Kings.
Just last Saturday, the Godo hitmaker was billed to perform at Club Vegas 999 and sadly only a handful of people turned up for the show and it was eventually cancelled.
The self- proclaimed “Shark” had to go back to Harare without performing due to poor attendance.
Before he came for the performance, the artiste was ecstatic about performing in Bulawayo after a long absence.
He tweeted: “Lest we forget, Team Mashark will be gracing club Vegas in Bulawayo this Saturday
“Hanzi Stunner imbopinda paBlues Stunner imbopinda paBlues. Okay nhasi manheru ndiripo (they say Stunner come to Bulawayo, tonight I am there), hit on top of hit…”
The recent incident could have brought fresh memories of an incident in 2011 when he ended up vowing that he would never perform in the city again.
The rapper was not only booed off stage by fans but they indicated their dislike of his music by throwing missiles on stage.
He had to cut short the performance as he feared for his life and after the incident, he was quoted saying:
“I would rather perform in the cold land of England than perform in Bulawayo,” he said.
His performance in 2011 came after a long hiatus from the city, after his brawl with Bulawayo rapper, Mcheznana back in 2008 at a local club.
In a radio interview on radio in May, Stunner took a jibe at Bulawayo artistes saying they were not talented hence they had failed to make it on radio.
He is alleged to have pointed out DJ Doan and Mcheznana whom he singled out as “lounging cats.”
However, it is not only Stunner whose show has flopped in the city, several big names from Zimbabwe and beyond have in the recent months failed to attract huge crowds, save for sungura ace Alick Macheso, Oliver Mtukudzi, gospel couple Charles and Olivia Charamba.
Some of the artistes who have flopped this year include South African artistes, Sifiso Ncwane, Ncandweni Christ Ambassadors whose show was at the Queens Sports Club and less than 100 people turned up for the much hyped gospel extravaganza.
In February, the DJ Tira show flopped as also a handful of people turned up.
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo