Is Mutodi a copycat?

talents in the industry after he snapped up some of the best instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers from various music groups to form his own band.
This is what people call building one’s music “nest” using other artistes’ “feathers”.
Mutodi did exactly that on his latest album titled “Sekawo Zvishoma” on which he borrows heavily from the music of the late Tongai “Dhewa” Moyo and Alick Macheso.
Dhewa and Macheso’s beat are unmistakable and one can conclude that Mutodi copied from these two artistes’ beats.
This is so because Mutodi enlisted the services of former Utakataka Express band members Shiga Shiga, Spencer Khumulani and Guyson Sixpence and former Orchestra Mberikwazvo rhythm guitarist Innocent Mijintu.
Dhewa’s influence is felt right from the onset on the opening song “Watsamwei?”
Listeners cannot help but wonder whether this is not one of Dhewa’s songs judging from the instrument arrangement and the chants by Shiga Shiga.
In the song, Mutodi sings about a person who is bent on destroying someone else. “Watsamwira nyaya yausingazive, wapindwa nei?/Ndashaya chandingakupa iwe muroyi iwe ah no . . . (You want to poke your finger in every pie, how can I impress you?”)
Shiga Shiga then goes the extra mile in bragging about Mutodi’s enormous fortune, chanting: “Kana paine anofungidzira angamise chitima ichi (chemari) ngaamire pamberi tione. (If there is anyone who thinks he or she can stop this train, let him or her step forward).”
In the second song, “Tinofanana Pakuona” Mutodi’s instruments remind many of those of Macheso and like in the previous song, he boasts about his vast talents.
“Zvakushamisa seiko ndine zvipo zvakawanda apo ndiri muimbi, apo ndiri muvaki ndokuzovazve murairidzi, ndokusiyana kwazvo. (I am a multi-talented person, I am a musician, a constructor as well as a teacher, that’s where we differ.”
“Rumbie” is a love song about someone who is yearning for a distant lover, while “Uchanditsvaka” is about how tables turn in life.
“Kuteerera” is a song that carries a very constructive message and warns people to heed advice.
The album signs off with the track “Chipo Chababa” which opens on a reggae note before changing tempo to pure sungura. It urges people to live in harmony and also cherish the talents bestowed upon them by God.
Recorded at the Zimbabwe Music Corporation, the album is Mutodi’s third release after “Simbi YaM’dhara” and “Kumasese”. It is also Mutodi’s first project with his band, Mutodi Express, after having gone separate ways with the Real Sounds of Africa.