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SUNGURA musician, Mukoma Panga, reckons fans have embraced him despite singing for fun.
The corporate lawyer turned musician, believes nothing is impossible when given a try. “I didn’t know that I would make this impact when I tried my hand in recording new music.
“Quite a number of people knew me as a promoter based in Bulawayo, but the year 2019 marked my introduction to the music industry as a recording artist. My debut album ‘Mbuva YeHwiza’ was nominated for NAMA in the category of Outstanding Newcomer as well as Best Sungura in the ZIMA awards. In the popular end of year Radio Zimbabwe Top 50, my song ‘Panganayi’ was number three,” he said.
The gifted composer said he was not deterred when the prize giving ceremony failed to take place after his songs dominated the charts.
“Unfortunately because of the outbreak of Covid-19, the ceremony could not be held. That was my inaugural award. As I have always stated, I do music for fun and will continue doing it for fun as long as I am alive. It’s my passion. I feel very humbled when people out there recognise my work. It motivates me to work hard and strive to outdo my previous projects in terms of appeal and quality.”
Mukoma Panga reckons nothing beats hard work and team spirit when it comes to success. “When it’s time for music, I take a lot of time rehearsing with the boys. Everyone’s contribution is welcomed, and we work as a family.
“We don’t go to the recording studio until we are all happy as a family that our project is now ready,” he said.
The singer urged fellow artists to be in touch with their producers.
“Even after recording before mastering and mixing of the project, we have listening sessions as members of the Super Crew together with our producers and engineers and correct where we feel should be corrected.
“Once we are all happy, that’s when we unleash the final project to the market for consumption by our loyal fans.”
Despite getting several nominations, Mukoma Panga was happy that his trophy cabinet now has something.
“The song ‘Sadza Nemhiripiri’ featuring Chipoko ChaSauro and Dispatch brought us a Gold Plate award last year for being number two on the National FM Top 50. It also won us some monetary recognition from Radio Zimbabwe Top 50 for being in the Top 10 of the Glow Petroleum sponsored programme.
“‘Mai Mwana’ featuring Agartha Murudzwa was number three in the National FM Top 50 the previous year.”
Unlike most sungura artistes, Mukoma Panga believes in reinventing the wheel. “Artists should not be stuck in the past; don’t be afraid to experiment with new sound. There is no harm whatsoever in working with new instrumentalists or different instrumentalists when recording. Don’t be stuck with the same producer,” he said.
“People get tired and exhausted along the way and their sound can become monotonous hence the need to periodically change hands. In my case, I experimented a lot with new sound to give birth to my own sound which the fans have christened SUNGUMBA being a mixture of Sungura, Rhumba and Zimdancehall.
“The song became one of the biggest hits of the year competing with projects by big names like Alick Macheso, Mark Ngwazi, Simon Mutambi and Somandla Ndebele,” he said.
Asked whether he had plans to return to music promotion, he explained:
“I can’t say yes I will be back in music promotions again neither can I say no I won’t do music promotions again.
“Presently, I am enjoying working with and assisting talented youngsters like Chipoko ChaSauro.
“One day, I may bounce back with music promotions catering for the talented youth.” Despite his breakthrough, he conceded starving fans of live shows.
“I hope one day we will have time for a few live shows to interact with our fans bearing in mind that we are just doing music for fun. It is a possibility since the band members have been pushing me to hold live shows. We will get there.”
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter