Online Reporter
Maria Chiguvari
PRAISE and worship sensation Tsitsi Chawasarira has a remarkable story to share with her fans.
It revolves around a life-changing bet her parents made to encourage her to return home and establish herself in Zimbabwe.
According to the agreement, she had to leave the United Kingdom and move back to Zimbabwe if she wanted their financial support.
The decision was particularly challenging for Tsitsi.
The 37-year-old was born at Sadza Growth Point and raised in the UK.
She has settled back home and Chawasarira has been reflecting on the bet that transformed her life.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Herald Arts, Chawasarira laughed at how she found herself back home.
“It’s a funny story about how I started my career and came back to Zimbabwe. I didn’t want to leave the UK but my dad struck a deal with me.
“If I followed the whole family to Zimbabwe, my dad would record an album for me.
“My family is musical. My mother recorded her album in the year 2000. My dad was an MC and a break dancer. It’s a calling, my inspiration comes from the assignment God gave me.
“Winning souls back to Christ and the testimonies that people share after listening to my music are what I believe to be milestones.
“My childhood was quite a journey, which I will share properly in a formal set-up, but God carried me through it all and I saw Him come through for me many times.”
Chawasarira, who is riding high with her new track ‘I Desire Jesus,’ also opened up about her uniquely knitted sound and sources of inspiration.
“I call my sound and style contemporary gospel with an African fusion, my biggest influences being Nathaniel Bassey and CeCe Winans.
“I must be God’s employee for me to achieve or fulfil His mandate.
“I record without a budget but God always provides, I aim to inspire my listeners through humility and loving Jesus with all my heart.”
Despite her rich catalogue of songs, she singled out her chart-topper “Mufaro’ as a pain-killer.
“The track ‘Mufaro Wangu’ has to be the song that marked my breakthrough and is still relevant to this day.
“In this age where depression and anxiety have been labelled as ‘cool,’ the only way to replace that is through the joy of the Lord.”
She featured Tembalami on her track ‘Fire,’ while Pastor G partnered with her on the song ‘Thank You.’
Other collaborations include ‘Huya,’ featuring Kudzi Nyakudya, ‘God is Not a Man,’ featuring her dad, ‘Ngatimukudze Mwari,’ featuring her mother, and ‘Mwari Wangu,’ in collaboration with Oncemore Six.
Chawasarira acknowledged that she is also facing some challenges.
“The so-called scammers have scammed me,” she said without naming names.
With Zim gospel evolving with each passing day in terms of sound quality, texture, and composition, Chawasarira is one of the country’s enterprising stars destined for greatness.
Blessed with a powerful songwriting technique which blends gospel with social commentary, she could be one of the country’s big stars in the future.
