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The process can be painful for the infant who may be reluctant to leave the comfort of a mother’s breast. Forfeiture of mother’s breast may seem to the infant like a deliberate denial of their rightful pleasure.
The alternative may very often seem stale and not as satisfying as the original. This analogy can also be applied to the music scene where an artiste’s attempts to re-invent himself may not be embraced by fans. One dismal failure and fans may disappear as quickly as they appeared, moving on to another artiste whose metaphoric breast may offer milk that the artiste that they loved has ceased to give. When the taps of a music genius have run dry, music fans are always keen to look for another undiluted and unpolluted source to quench their musical thirst.
Anyone in any doubt can ask one of Zimbabwe’s most prominent musicians, Alick Macheso.
After eight albums Extra Basso had fans eating off his hands, ravenously consuming any music that he chose to dish out. For eight excellent albums fans were seemingly spellbound by Macheso’s musical abilities as he established himself as sungura’s Pied Piper of Hamelin. Only the Piped Piper in fairy tales, who seduced many to drowning after the townspeople had failed to pay him his due, Macheso leading multitudes to the calm waters of musical nirvana. However, with the introduction of a new style in his music, fans have been quick to voice their displeasure.
On his latest album, Kwatakabva Mitinhu, Macheso came out with a different style which fans did not take a liking to. The cry from his loyal fans has been for Macheso to go back to his roots, as the album deviated from the path that fans thought his music would take.
The feeling is that Extra Basso has left his fans in the cold like a prophet who has forsaken his legion of loyal followers. While men of God in the country have promised miracles, Macheso has delivered stones that are far from the precious kind.
Extra Basso is not the only artiste in history to meet the wrath of displeased fans. Legendary American folk artiste Bob Dylan incurred the ire of fans in 1967 when he suddenly changed from acoustic to electric guitar. At the 1967 Newport Festival, Dylan was booed a few bars into the song Maggie’s Farm, and continues throughout his second, Like a Rolling Stone.
After performing the song Phantom Engineer, Dylan and the band left the stage. The sound of booing was heard after his performance. Host Peter Yarrow returned to the microphone, begging an irate Dylan to continue performing. He then performed two songs on acoustic guitar for the audience: Mr Tambourine Man, and then, as his farewell to Newport, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue. Dylan did not return to the Newport festival for 37 years.
The road towards a change of style for any artiste therefore seemed to be one paved with hazards, least of all the possibility of being abandoned by one’s fans.
However, fans’ reluctance to accept new styles that artistes adopt may be to their own loss. An artiste seeking variety in his music may be to the fans’ own benefit in the long run as the spirit of experimentation could result in some of the best music that a musician can make. When artistes take a dip in unknown waters, it is a high possibility that they may fish out musical gems that no one thought existed.
One therefore has to applaud Macheso for taking the risk and deviating from the tried and tested and instead going outside his comfort zone. Although some may argue that the change of style was poorly executed, it shows that he is not prepared to wallow in past glory, but instead push himself past new boundaries.
Dylan managed to win over fans in the end, and with his status as one of the greatest musicians, it appears that his voice was not drowned out by the howl of insults from the crowd. It remains to be seen whether Extra Basso will also bounce back.
Sungura artiste Obadiah Mutalana believes a change of style or genre does not affect the output of a competent artiste. Instead, he believes that a switch of style complements the style of the artiste, as it gives room for experimentation hence give fans a more wholesome product.
He believes fans may be standing in the way of artistic progress by voicing premature discontent. Matulana points to some prominent artistes on the local music scene who have managed to successfully switch their style or genre without fans losing out.
“People should look out for an album that I am working on. I will be experimenting a lot with reggae, which is different from my usual sungura sound. People should not despair at the switch in genre as other artistes like Solomon Skuza have also made songs in reggae that have gone on to become hugely popular.
“However, I would like to point out that as artistes, we are always looking for new things and fans should give us room to look for new sounds,” he said.
Experimenting therefore gives an artiste creative freedom which they may not have when fettered to the expectations of fans whose desire for good music does not care of the artiste’s attempts to bring across a groundbreaking new style.
Marabi maestro Jeys Marabini is also breaking from the mould as he announced that he is working on an acoustic album set for release this year. The album will also depart from the style of music that fans have gotten used to from Marabini.
“Fans should not be worried about the change of style because the project will still have elements of the sound that they are used to from me. Experimenting by artistes is a way for us to penetrate markets that are not usually accessible to us. Fans should give us that room to manoeuvre because we want to reach new markets and get more gigs as well,” he said.
Experimenting with new styles enables artistes to break out of the box that fans sometimes jail them in. In the race to become musical icons, experimentation may be the key, rather than a blinkered sprint to the finish line through the use of tried and tested musical styles. However, it is fans whose support backs the horse and ultimately they are the ones that dictate the pace at which the race is run.
Online Reporter