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Kudzai Mpangi, Sunday Life Reporter
WHAT is in a name? Names sometimes define individuals’ personalities but that is quite the opposite with singer, songwriter and guitarist Silent Nhendere popularly known as Sylent Nqo.
In African culture, parents or family members have been known to give names to their children or relatives that have meanings or that they expect to define the recipients’ personalities. African christenings are mostly character building exercises with the names given supposedly a mirror of the expected behaviour of the child or simply a reflection of the past.
Born in 1994, the multi-talented artiste started playing different musical instruments and singing at the age of nine, refusing to be cast in a box because of the expectations that come with his name. At 16 he started playing with popular group, Jazz Invitation as a percussionist.
This marked the beginning of his career and then later moving on to play the guitar with prominent musicians such as the late Chiwoniso Maraire, Plaxedexes Wenyika, Makoomba just to name a few.
“Playing with these great musicians at a tender age was an eye opening experience for me. I was able to learn a lot from them through the years. Now I am 23 but have already managed to play for the some of the biggest names in the industry. This early exposure literally taught me everything. And it wasn’t just about making music but also about making ‘Sylent Nqo’ a business. I also learnt about the importance of team work and a whole lot more,” Sylent Nqo shared.
Later in his career, he started working with artistes such as Simba Tagz, Reverb 7 and DJ Stavo and has played the guitar for Mr Eazi, Ammara Brown and Jah Prayzah.
Sylent Nqo has managed to disprove that a name can shape a person’s character and pre-destinate his life.
“I have heard people say a lot about my name but I actually like the irony that comes with it. I am grateful to my parents for giving me this name. I’m a living miracle all thanks and praise to God,” he said.
Sylent Nqo is one of the 2016 winners for the World Championship of Performing Arts which are held annually in Hollywood. He was voted the best guitarist, managing to beat competitors from across the world.
Sylent Nqo said for him, being confident was inborn. He argues that he knew he was going to win the competition because of the time and effort he puts into perfecting his craft.
“I knew I was going to win the competition. The thing is, when I want something I go out and fight to get it. So before I travelled to the US I put in the hours, rehearsed intensely and perfected my craft for the competition. It was hard but I only had one goal and I achieved it,” Sylent Nqo said.
“Winning also helped my career in the sense that it gave more attention to my craft, but again it’s also the hard work that I’d been putting in both from myself and my team.”
As a musician and a song writer Sylent Nqo has so far released two songs which will be part of his upcoming album to be released sometime next year.
The songs have received fair air play since their release.
“Right now I’m releasing a series of singles that I’m working on with my brother and friend, Humphrey ‘Mboks’ who has been producing my work alongside Chiweddar and these singles are going to be part of my debut album. Ndinomuridzira Gitare and ’t’s a party and truly speaking they are doing quite well so far,” he said.
The budding muso also has own four-piece band with him as the lead vocalist and guitarist, Prince “Madiwali” Dzuwa on drums, Traver Musariri on bass guitar and Chiweddar on keyboards. The manager is Fungai “Kush” Zvirawa while the PA is called Peter Pach.
“We haven’t toured internationally as a band yet, but we are still growing as a brand and whenever I travel outside the country alone, I try to impact my audiences so that when the band finally gets to travel, the world will know we have arrived,” he said.
Sylent Nqo has supported big acts like Anne Kansime, Hugh Masekela and headlined Hifa during his short, but clearly successful career. -@kayskudzai
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