Maskiri feels artists who left the country pushed urban grooves into a limbo

Maria Chiguvari

RAPPER Alishias “Maskiri” Musimbe says the urban grooves movement suffered when most artists moved outside the country.

He opened up ahead of the urban grooves reunion concert slated for Dunstable Conference Centre, in the UK, on August 28.

Dubbed “Urban Groove Linkup,” the event will feature artists like Leonard Mapfumo, Madiz, Tererai, Ngoni Kambarami, Alexio Kawara, Decibel, Xtra Large and Trevor Dongo.

“Nothing really went wrong, it’s only that most of the artists went out of the country.

“We now have an urban grooves organisation as we are reviving the genre that we want to keep it alive and give it more relevance.

“I do not think the genre is dead, we still have artists from the urban grooves generation, who are holding their own today, the likes of ExQ, Roki, Diana Samkange, Shinsoman, to name but a few.

“We are doing everything to revive the genre because that’s when music started, so our fans should just be positive and expect more of these link-ups.

“I’m really proud of the genre, we have an urban grooves compilation coming.”