Insimbi ZeZhwane makes history: First rhumba video to hit 1 million YouTube views

INSIMBI ZeZhwane has made history in the Rhumba music category by becoming the first band to achieve one million views for a video on YouTube, albeit two years after the video was posted.

The video features the single track Imbulumakhasane, which was released in 2022. This milestone comes after the tragic loss of the band’s beloved lead guitarist and vocalist, Elvis “MaEli” Mathe, who died in a road accident along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road in August 2023.

The single was widely praised by fans for its clear vocals, a contrast to some of the band’s previous songs where listeners had struggled to decipher the lyrics.

Brema, a member of the band, expressed his elation at the achievement, stating, “I am overjoyed by the achievement and would like to thank all who made this possible, especially the fans who watched the video online. We plead for more support so that we can continue to grow and reach even bigger numbers.”

Cruz Moyo of Ezakithi TV, who shot the video, described the milestone as a pleasant surprise. He also shared some behind-the-scenes details about the making of the video, which was filmed in South Africa.

“That was not the best video we could have done due to a number of reasons. The first problem we had was that the guys announced the release date before the video was even shot. So, we had to rush in many ways as we did not have enough time to execute the job properly. When they engaged me, they later disappeared and only returned a month before the release date. I told them I could not do the job and directed them to someone else,” Cruz explained.

“They went away, and two weeks later, they phoned me and said, ‘Ndoda siphansi eflatini, let us go and shoot the video.’ They did not want to take no for an answer, so we did it under immense pressure due to time limitations,” he added.

Cruz noted that Rhumba artists often make the mistake of setting album release dates well in advance, which creates unnecessary pressure when circumstances change.

He praised the band’s professionalism during the production, although he revealed that the late MaEli struggled with one particular scene, which took longer to shoot.

“Unfortunately, my hard drive crashed; it would have been a good time to show how everything happened. In the video, there is a part where people are reversing. We spent a lot of time shooting that aspect with a green screen, but MaEli struggled to execute the part we wanted, and we had to let it go. On set, everything was perfect, and the cooperation was good, save for a moment or two where I felt Janisto, due to his seniority among the other guys, wanted more limelight. But we handled the matter,” Cruz said.

He also highlighted the financial challenges faced during the production, as the band did not receive external support for the video and had to work with limited resources.