tawandamusarurwa
Society Reporter
VETERAN sound engineer, producer and sungura musician Norman “Dhara Nodza” Tapambwa is concerned about the future of sungura in the country.
Tapambwa opines sungura is seemingly struggling to produce fresh stars compared to genres like Zim hip-hop and Zimdancehall.
The situation is worsened by monotony, as most upcoming musicians try to sound like veteran composer and singer Alick “Baba Sharo” Macheso.
If not addressed, Tapambwa said, this state of affairs will likely lead to a “total demise” of sungura in the next 10 years.
“Zimdancehall and Zim hip-hop are constantly producing stars and at any given time; you have more than a single artiste doing wonders. This is not the case with sungura. I am yet to see a youthful singer with full potential to dominate the industry.
“Most of them are struggling; we do not have new names coming through the ranks. I have not produced any potential stars in recent years,” argued Tapambwa.
The decorated sound engineer and music producer said only a handful of artistes are making waves for sungura, and these include Baba Sharo, Mark Ngwazi and Simon Mutambi.
Emerging stars have, along the way, often proved to be one-hit wonders. Names that quickly come to mind are those of Joseph Garakara (Idya Banana), Tatenda Pinjisi (Saina) and Obert Chari (Mebo).
Fierce competition that existed within sungura back in the day made it a genre of choice for many.
There was a time when musicians like the late Leonard Dembo, System Tazvida, John Chibadura, Ketai Muchawaya, Simon Chimbetu and Marshall Munhumumwe used to battle for fans.
During that period, it was a dog-eat-dog affair, as all of the said artistes dished out hit songs like confetti. Any of their releases, sometimes two albums per year, were literally pure magic.
“Today, we only have Macheso and the budding Mark Ngwazi to talk about in sungura. This is not good for the genre. We need more artistes to make it to the top so that sungura remains vibrant,” he said.
Tapambwa notes the need for singers to go back to the drawing board.
“There is a need for us, as artistes in the industry, to sit down and draw a road map of our genre. We should be innovative enough to ensure it remains dominant in the wake of new popular genres.
“One of the many ways to guarantee this is by being as original and creative as possible. People love quality music and it has to be new. The challenge is that most singers are struggling to think outside the box,” added Tapambwa, who is a Zimbabwe College of Music graduate.
The musician currently teaches music at Dominican Convent High School in Harare.
He is calling on music promoters to invest their money in sungura as much as they do with Zimdancehall and Zim hip-hop.
“At times, we have some talented singers who are failing to rise due to lack of funding,” he said.
Seasoned and outspoken music producer Bothwell “African” Nyamhondera also shared his sentiments.
“For the past 10 years, I have witnessed the number of artistes who want to pursue sungura music decline while increasing for Zimdancehall. I think this is largely due to the fact that sungura needs intensive investments compared to Zimdancehall or Zim hip-hop.
“It is expensive for a sungura artiste to record an album. The recording fees are too high as he needs instruments and band members. Zimdancehall artistes rarely have band members and often use backyard studios that are cheap,” said Nyamhondera.
He also called upon promoters to support sungura singers.
“We have the necessary talent but they lack resources. Sungura is a big genre that needs to be supported by everyone,” he added.
In the past, musicians would, at times, be sponsored by recording companies like Gramma Records, Record and Tape Promotions, Zimbabwe Music Company and Metro Studios to record their projects and the money would be recovered through album sales.
However, piracy has since made it difficult to maintain such contracts.
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