Kalawa Homecoming Party had become a Byo brand

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
For seven years straight, the mood in Bulawayo at this time of the year has been electric because of the Kalawa Homecoming Party that was staged annually by arguably the most successful music stable in South Africa, Kalawa Jazmee.

Today would have been nine days before the gig and revellers by now, would be knowing which artistes would be gracing their city and would be more than looking forward to the performances.

Kalawa Homecoming Party had grown to become a festival with ordinary Zimbabweans being afforded the chance to see their favourite stars on stage.

December 27 from 2012 to 2018 saw artistes such as Cassper Nyovest, AKA, Mafikizolo, DJ Zinhle, Berita Khumalo, DJ Tira, DJ Fresh, Durban’s Finest, Professor, Mandoza, Zola and Oskido grace the Kalawa Homecoming Party.

These artistes were at the top of their game at the time, churning out December hits released strategically months before.

This year because of the Amapiano craze, perhaps the biggest artistes in the genre could have made the line-up.

People like Scorpion Kings (DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small), Major League DJs, Shasha, MFR Souls, Samthing Soweto, DJ Zandie Maz and Nokwazi (Ngisemathandweni), DJ Obza (Mang’dakiwe), Mapara A Jazz (John Vuligate) and Kamu Dee could have graced the Kalawa stage.

Master KG and Nomcebo Zikode would have been on the line-up because of their monster hit Jerusalema. Not forgetting locals, Asaph, Mzoe7, Msiz’kay, Ngoma iNgoma as well as Jah Master, Jah Signal, Winky D and Jah Prayzah would have been included. DJ Ryan Synth, DJ Prince and DJ Yugoe would have made the line-up of wheel spinners.

Unfortunately this is just a pipe dream after organisers stopped hosting the show in 2018.

Christmas Day is no longer the same because during the Kalawa Homecoming season, Kalawa supremo, Oskido would host an All-White Party on the day and various nightspots around the city would have the privilege to host him. This was a precursor of the homecoming party as it confirmed Oskido’s presence in the city.

In 2013 when I first attended the homecoming party, Oskido held his All-White Party at Stop Over. There, he introduced people to a new artiste, Character with his song Inxeba Lendoda. This was the norm at every All-White Party.

For many, this marked the beginning of the festive season and attending the Kalawa Homecoming Party was the biggest highlight of the festive season.

2013 was the year when Via Orlando was one of the biggest hits out of South Africa. It was the same year that hits like Ngoku by Busiswa, Nokwazi with Imoto and Candy with Tsamandebele were released by the Kalawa Chiquitas.
The stable had too many hits and over the years they switched to old school kwaito artistes.

The line-up had the likes of Zola, Mdu, Trompies, the late Mandoza and Brickz who shut down the event that had thousands attending.

Gradually, as the Kalawa Homecoming Party gained traction, it started attracting people from Harare and from as far as Botswana who would book lodges and some hotels in the city. The event became a tourist attraction that had national and regional reach.

Perhaps 2015 had arguably the best line-up for a Kalawa Homecoming because it pitted two hip-hop heavyweights, AKA and Cassper Nyovest. It was at the height of their beef with Cassper not speaking to AKA and the latter not wanting to share the same space.

The same year, the Homecoming party had Mafikizolo, Professor, Oskido, Durban Nyts (with their Shumaya hit), Stiff, DJs Bobstar, Tira, Fresh and Pepsi. At that time, Zimbabwe’s hip hop musician, the late Cal Vin had featured Cassper Nyovest on the remix of the track Zikhuphan’ and he was part of the local acts with Khuxxman, Mzoe 7, Defined House, DJs Skaiva, Scooby, Sibago, Liz, Emity Smooth and Leroy.

In 2016, Kalawa Homecoming organisers announced that they were going to have Gqom artiste Babes Wodumo as the headline act and the news was met with excitement as Babes had produced a December track, Wololo. She was to share the stage with Zimbabwe heavyweights Jah Prayzah and Winky D. But Babes disappointingly did not pitch up, alleging that she missed a flight in Durban. Fans were disappointed and had to make do with the Zimbabwean and SA acts who did not disappoint.

But this was like a sign of the steady decline of the event as in 2017 there were no big names from the two countries.
In 2017, the line-up was not exciting and this was the same year that Queens Sports Club was closed for renovations forcing the party to be moved to Amazulu Sports Club, just down the road. However, the hordes of people were not there.

And the following year was to be the last time that something called Kalawa Homecoming was going to happen in Bulawayo. Due to economic hardships, Kalawa was scaled down to a club version and was held at Club Cosmopolitan with Busiswa, DJ Zinhle and DJ Bobstar being the headline acts. Although hundreds attended, it was not the Kalawa that people grew to love and appreciate.

Last year, the party did not happen as organisers cited economic challenges while this year the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic shut down all hopes of the party.

For a good seven years, Kalawa Homecoming Party was the mainstay of entertainment in Bulawayo and it is surely missed by revellers from Zimbabwe and the region. – @bonganinkunzi