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As the place begins to fill up people are enchanted by the dancehall sounds from some of Jamaica’s finest like Mavado and Vybez Kartel before the man on the turntables gets the dance floor shaking with house tunes from South Africa’s finest house DJs. Revellers leave with a deep sense of musical satisfaction as they have been served musical dishes palatable to the usual Bulawayo ear.
In all of this there has not been a distinct Bulawayo song. In fact the only thing remotely close to home is the usual Seqa Mabhilidi complemented with sprinklings of a few Winky D songs which is largely due to the Ninja President’s ever growing popularity within the City of Kings.
This scenario begs a question whether Bulawayo’s youths have lost their musical identity or people are just used to foreign music.
The dominance of foreign music in Bulawayo especially from South Africa is not a recent phenomenon. South African “bubblegum” pop artistes dominated the local music scene in the 1980s which saw the likes of Dan Chanda, Splash and Chicco Twala come into prominence.
Mbaqanga group the Soul Brothers are probably just as popular in Bulawayo as they are in many parts of South Africa itself.
The sound of kwaito grabbed the imagination of the city’s youth in the early 1990s until the mid-1990s giving a breed to a culture of omapantsula influenced by the likes of Trompees and Alaska. Others influenced by the sounds of Tupac Shakur and the Wu-Tang clan adopted a hip-hop subculture characterised by baggy clothing and the dropping of jeans below waistlines.
Bulawayo youths have developed a liking for foreign music over the years. It seems they have been quick to adopt musical sub-cultures that are not necessarily of their own and the question is whether they are losing their own identity in the process.
However, musicians in the city argue that although they were dishing out music that is foreign they had not discarded their own roots as they incorporated some local elements in their music.
In an interview recently Bulawayo artiste Khulekani “Khuxman” Bethule, said though artistes and Bulawayo in general is influenced by South Africa, artistes should strive to be different.
“I think Bulawayo in general is influenced by South Africa, but we as artistes should work to have our own style, for example our chants and lyrics should be influenced by our own surroundings,” he said.
Khuxman said that local radio stations and clubs could help by playing local songs, as that was the only way Bulawayo musicians could be heard on the airwaves.
“The only way for the music from Bulawayo to gain prominence is to be played heavily in our clubs and on our radio stations, that is how urban grooves gained prominence,” he said.
House DJ Given Khumalo, better known as DJ Khumz, said: “Look I do house music, but I still keep my identity, that is why I changed my name from DJ Spox to DJ Khumalo. I wanted to have a name that people could identify with, and I also use vocals in my tracks that carry meaning to the people of Bulawayo,” said Khumalo.
Some may argue that even in yesteryears the popularity of foreign music outshined Bulawayo’s own products, but it can also be argued that the popularity of the Soul Brothers or the late Brenda Fassie was balanced by the music of artistes like Lovemore Majaivana and Busi Ncube.
A young music lover Wernburg Dube believes that radio stations in the country are not doing enough for Bulawayo artistes while clubs are also shortchanging local music fans.
“I don’t think radio stations play enough of our local music. There is an unwillingness among local clubs to try out something new, but to stick to the tried and tested sounds which are largely foreign,” said Dube.
It remains to be seen therefore, whether the local music scene will experience a landscape change that will see people embracing music whose origins are from Bulawayo or whether foreign music will continue dominating.
Online Reporter