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As urban grooves sensation Cindy Munyavi left Harare for Lagos, Nigeria, late December for the Africa Music Awards (Afrima), no one expected any miracles.
To most music fans and events followers, it was good enough that the “Parere Moyo” singer had been nominated for the award. After all, Cindy has been nominated for 15 different awards but has only won three.
To make matters worse, she was up against the likes of Zahara, Mampi and Lira, who are massive crowd pullers and are hugely popular in Africa and around the globe.
Unlike her competition on the nomination list, Cindy is not played on Trace or Channel O on DStv, making it almost impossible for her to be popular with a regional (Southern African) audience let alone continental.
But on December 27, Cindy walked away with the Best Female Artiste in Southern Africa award – something that shocked even her.
While Zimbabweans from around the globe congratulated her – innuendo on social networks was that she did not deserve it.
The Sunday Mail Leisure last week caught up with the diva at Cindy’s Fashion Corner, her fashion business in the central business district – to find out how she pulled it off and how she feels about the negative talk surrounding her recent achievement.
“My record label has been pushing me in Southern Africa. Take, for instance, ‘Summer Time’ and ‘Ndiri mupenyu’, singles off my forthcoming album, they have been released in over 35 radio stations throughout Southern Africa.
“My music is being played in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, to name just a few African countries.
“It is a game of numbers – the reason why Nigeria and South Africa dominate right now is because they have millions of people backing them,” she explained.
The “Ndidzorere Moyo Wangu” hit-maker says after she won the award, she also did her own research to find out how she managed to do the “impossible”.
“I realised that the awards organisers themselves are very thorough.
“There are 12 judges from different countries who research about an artiste and one needs to get a good number of the judges’ votes in order to win the award.
“Half of the marks come from the judges and the other half comes from online votes – so I really believe that I must be doing something right. This award is just the confidence booster I needed,” she said.
Cindy believes that Nigerian and South African music is more popular as the artistes there have the financial muscle to push their music buoyed by their fans’ support who buy music and attend their shows.
“My manager Elton Bryce and the record label Bryce Nation know how to push an artiste. While I have been creating good music they have excelled in pushing it. We deserve this award,” she said.
On her forthcoming album, which is due for release next month, Cindy has gone all out in trying to conquer the African continent.
Through collaborations with artistes from Nigeria (2Face), South Africa (Bongani Fassie), Roberto Banda (Zambia), Rina (Malawi), Karmi Kazi (Tanzania) – Cindy hopes to create an even bigger fan base.
“If any of these songs becomes a hit in these respective countries or even get fair airplay, it means I can go there and perform. That is a new market for me and the brand Cindy and my music will reach far and wide,” she said.
She added: “My dream, my goal is to sing music that transcends cultures because for me music is not a hobby it is my career, my livelihood.”
She says her upcoming album “Music Vocals Cindy”, is a no-holds-barred product.
“Musically I did not limit myself. When I felt like singing, I sang and when I felt like rapping or lowering my register or even screaming – I did just that. There is a lot of me in this album; I poured myself out – with personal issues and so forth,” she said.
Cindy, who holds diplomas in marketing and public relations, among other academic qualifications, says her previous albums were about what would sell, but not anymore.
“We have dared to be different in an environment where one genre, dancehall, has dominated. I am not going to hold anything back anymore,” she declared.
Cindy hit the limelight in 2006 with the release of her chart-topping album “Kukuda – Loving You”. She muscled her way into an industry that already had the likes of Plaxedes Wenyika, Betty Makaya and Pauline Gundidza.
Unexpectedly, three songs did well on the charts and earned the diva her first two awards nominations at the Zimbabwe Music Awards in 2006 and the National Arts Merit Awards in 2007.
In 2010 after a three-year hiatus, she released a 20-track scorcher “The Groove Theory”, which carried several hits. In 2012, she quit her job as a real estate agent to concentrate on her music career.
Together with talented jazz artiste Claire Nyakujara, Cindy created Kumabhebhi, which literary means a ladies’ meeting place.
She went on to do several collaborations locally and abroad, opened Cindy’s Fashion Corner then scooped the prestigious Afrima award, which came with a 23-carat gold-plated statuette.
Online Reporter