Muchaneta Chimuka
Tedious Muchapedza Matsito was the legendary frontman of popular sungura outfit Ngwenya Brothers, celebrated for timeless hits such as “Gede Mwana Gede” and “Nyaradzo”.
He died on March 27, 2019, following a long illness linked to complications from a stroke and a leg amputation.
Seven years after death, his son, Tedious Muchapedza Matsito Junior (24), is working to keep his father’s musical legacy alive by leading the Ngwenya Brothers band.
Matsito Junior has released his third album entitled “Mufandichimuka,” which has six tracks, namely ‘Akasiyana -siyana’, ‘Maruva Enyika’, ‘Raramo Yangu’, among others.
He said he named his album ‘Mufandichimuka’ as he is geared to transform his father’s music legacy against all odds.
“I ventured into the music industry in 2020 after the death of my father. The album will be launched soon, and I’m promising fireworks to my fans,” he said.
“Yes, Mufandichimuka is widely known as a herb that is planted at graves to ensure that the spirits of the dead rise. For me, it means the revival of my father’s music legacy; yes, he is no more, but his band remains.
“Coincidentally, I was named after my father, except for our date of birth. I’m working in harmony with the team members that he left, and I will remain loyal to them because they are the ones who are grooming me. We do not fight for positions because that is what is dividing several bands.”
Matsito is aiming to transform the music industry in Zimbabwe for the better and is hoping to move with the times through the use of new media technology.
“In my music track ‘Akasiyana – siyana’, I was trying to highlight that in life nothing is uniform because we meet different things; hence, we have to brace for good and bad things and accept them as part of life,” he said.
“In ‘Maruva Enyika’ track – I was trying to educate communities to be faithful in their relationship, taking into consideration that cases of divorce are on the increase so are gender-based violence cases.”
“We are generating revenue through online music; gone are the days when we used discs to upload our music for sale, and that was fuelling the problem of piracy. We are now utilising YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to sell our music, and it is quite good because we can easily measure our success and failures through viewers’ comments. We welcome to any form of criticism because it shapes us.”
He hopes to make videos out of his music to increase viewers’ concentration, adding that they create an element of realism for the audience.
Matsito Junior lamented the lack of internet transmission in some remote area which then affect equal participation and access to music.
His two previous albums include: ‘Mandipa Mukana’ and ‘Chinokura Chinokotama ’, and his hopes are pinned on having more music productions that hit the local market and SADC Region.
