Delukes, The Prince of Mbira takes act to HIFA

Showbiz Correspondent
AFRO centric musician Luke Kamanga, affectionately known as Delukes, will take his Mbira and voice to the Harare Festival of the Arts for a debut performance in the capital and is excited about the prospect.

The Bulawayo-born and bred artiste is one of the performers invited for HIFA to be held in the capital from today until May 6.

Delukes who has an album, Live in Bulawayo, will be performing on the Coca Cola Green stage on May 4 (ZB Bank Day). He said it was a once in a life time opportunity.

“I want to be exposed to different people and artistes. I want to get to see which avenues I can explore as an artiste. It’ll be a great opportunity for me to be there for the first time and I can’t wait to rock the stage,” said Delukes.

The show starts at 11.15AM to 12PM and costs $6.

Describing himself as a versatile musician who uses the Mbira instrument to express his style of music, Delukes said he started music in 2006.

“I’m a versatile musician and I sing almost everything. But my main genre is Afro Centric. I started music in 2006 and I was singing with Family Voices then before I became a solo act. When I was at Family Voices I found myself more and realised that I can do more in music and then branched out. I sang with various musicians to gain exposure and perfect my craft,” said Delukes.

He pays tribute to a musician, Stango, who played a critical role of teaching him the Mbira instrument.

“I realised that there was a market for something Afro Centric and that’s when Delukes was born. I then decided to equip myself by learning the Mbira, through a guy called Stango. He taught me the basics then from there I taught myself the rest,” he said.

Delukes said he would like to work with Jah Prayzah, DJ Maphorisa and Willis Wataffi sometime in his career.

“Being part of HIFA this year is one of the things I’m doing to build my name and career. After I get to a level that I’m known a lot out there, I can approach people like Jah Prayzah, Willis Wataffi and DJ Maphorisa to do collaborations with,” said Delukes.

Delukes has performed in other international platforms such as the Karibu Music Festival in Tanzania, Ibumba Festival and Intwasa Festival both in Bulawayo. He has also shared the stage with many talented musicians such as Jeyz Marabini, Outfit Band, Lady Tshawe, Nceku and Othnell Mangoma just to name a few.

Delukes, an artist under the Sabela Music stable, launched his debut album last year titled ‘Live in Bulawayo’ which features his hit song Vuu Bum featuring Mimi Tarukwana.