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Bongani Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
“BULAWAYO musicians should not be treated as a special case and should be given space on national airwaves like their Harare counterparts.”This was said by some Bulawayo musicians criticising the Bulawayo Top 10 Chart Show which airs on ZiFM – barely a month after its launch.
Despite the chart show having the potential of launching careers of budding musicians by giving them airplay, Bulawayo’s “seasoned” musicians have deemed the show detrimental to the city’s music industry.
It seems that Bulawayo artistes always find fault in whatever programme that is held in the city or for the city. Examples of instances where they find fault with anything are national galas where they claim they are being sidelined. Some boycotted the National Art Merit Awards this year.
Last year at the Intwasa Festival, there was another outcry from the artistes who claimed they were being sidelined in the main event, questioning why organisers brought in Dudu Manhenga and Three Generations. Today they are condemning the Bulawayo Top 10 Chart Show.
The Bulawayo Top 10 Chart Show hosted by Bulawayo’s own Gibson Ncube airs on ZiFM every Saturday on Zi Saturday show Your Link to the city of Kings and Queens.
In separate interviews, Bulawayo artistes said although the idea of having a programme dedicated to them was noble, it made them feel like they were being treated like a special case.
“When you have a show specific for Bulawayo musicians, you make them feel like a special case. There are other artistes from Masvingo, Gweru, Mutare, Beitbridge, Plumtree and the like. Should they also have a top 10 chart show because their music is not receiving airplay?
“These artistes are also complaining that they are not being played on the radio stations,” said Mcheznana.
He said he would rather be number 10 in any national chart show than be number one on the Bulawayo Top 10 Chart Show.
“You find that there is a person like PoZee on the Bulawayo charts yet he has been in the music game for a long time. This defeats the purpose. I will not want to see myself there as an artiste. I would rather be in the top 10 in the national charts than be number one in the Bulawayo charts,” said Mcheznana.
Khuxxman of the We MaNcube fame concurred with Mcheznana saying the show was not for him and should be for up-and-coming artistes.
“Personally I don’t think I deserve to be part of that chart show because I believe it’s a platform for up-and-coming artistes to be heard. So if I contend for the number one spot with up-and-coming artistes, it won’t be helpful to the industry,” he said.
Zibozizodwa Ncube, an up-and-coming hip hop/kwaito artiste, said local artistes should open their own radio station and stop crying for airplay.
“From my point of view, having a show specifically for Bulawayo artistes or not makes no difference. It’s like asking for bread and they give you a stone. We are fed up. As artistes we need to open our own radio stations and stop begging, worshipping and praising other people and their stations,” he said.
The presenter of the show, Gibson Ncube, pointed out that the show was for any artiste as it was based on votes.
“The chart show is designed for all artistes, be it up-and-coming or seasoned, what matters are the votes. Even if ZiFM hardly plays a song from Bulawayo that is not urban, if people love the song and vote for it, it will be played on the chart. It’s called a chart for a reason and people vote for a reason,” he said.
Ncube said the chart show was a platform for those who are not known to graduate to the national chart shows.
“The more I play the songs on radio and the musician gains popularity the more the artiste is recognised in the country. Thereafter the artistes will find themselves on the national charts,” he said.
Online Reporter