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Tadious Manyepo
Arts Reporter
The Ngwazi siblings Mark and Tindo have engraved their names in Zimbabwe’s entertainment folklore following their rapid rise to sungura stardom.
The brothers, who are just four years apart, are naturally close, after playing significant roles in shaping each other’s careers behind the mic.
The pair is rocking airwaves with their latest releases that came within a month of each other.
Mark’s seventh studio album, which was released on June 29 is titled “Huzukwende” and is already sending shockwaves.
Tindo’s album, his fifth in as many years, “Denga Radaira”,is beginning to gain traction after its launch on July 27, which coincided with his 32nd birthday.
Mark has worked with Tindo in his first four projects “Zvandigumbura”, “Gudo Muriwo”, “Charger Yekatsono” and “Mudzimu Wabudira Pambeveve” before the latter decided to go solo in 2019.
A year later, Mark released a banger that completely changed his musical journey.
The track “Taurai Madzoka” on the release of “Chamugwegwedu Chamatindike” became a national anthem and things have never been the same for the 36-year-old Njanja Express leader.
With Mark’s shadow hovering above his head, Tindo had to quickly find his feet and become his own man, and he did just that.
With four quick-fire year-by-year releases, Tindo finally announced his arrival last year with his hit song “Musatipedzere Nguva” off the album “Charwadza” being voted the best song on Radio Zimbabwe’s prime year-end show, Top 50.
Things however could have turned out differently for the gifted Chivhu-bred singers, had their mother Rudo (nee Kashiri), whom they both fondly praise in song, been lacking in faith.
Mark is a master of the rhythm guitar courtesy of a flexible but scarred left hand, which is his biggest asset. That is the hand that came within hours of being amputated when Mark was just a year old back in 1989.
The musicians’ mother said the infant Mark was left in the care of his elder sister when he then slid into a burning litter pit.
“I get goosebumps when I think of the incident. One of his (Mark) sisters was burning litter while also watching Mark crawling around the yard at our former homestead in Rusunzwe, Wedza,” she said.
“Mark slid into the pit. He was rescued but not before he was badly burnt on his left hand. We rushed to Mt St Mary’s Hospital and we were quickly transferred to Marondera. We spent a lot of time admitted there before experts finally decided to amputate the hand. I was always crying, praying.
“On the day he was supposed to go into theatre, one of the doctors just said, oh no, let us give it time and try grafting. That is why you see his left thumb is slightly different, the scars on the hand are from that incident.”
Likewise, Tindo would also spend about a month in a hospital in Marondera when, just like Mark, he was only a year old in 1993.
“It was a tough period for me. When Tindo was only one, he experienced a strange illness. The situation was bad and we were slowly losing hope,” she said.
“I would always pray while my child was on oxygen support. Somehow, he survived.”
But how did the brothers develop an interest in music?
Their mother said: “In 1993, we resettled in our original home in Mpatsi, Chivhu, where we still are to date.
“Due to the strange occurrences that manifested in both Mark and Tindo, we decided to join an apostolic sect called Ruponiso. So these two were lead singers in the youth group when they were still young.
“Our village is next to the one where one of Zimbabwe’s music legends James Chimombe came from and this community loves his music. So one day, I was surprised to see Mark busy playing a hand-made guitar on our kitchen’s veranda. He quickly said he wanted to learn and be the next James Chimombe.
“That is how he started. In no time, he was already a master. I was a hawker back then, supplementing the little that my husband (Boas Ngwazi) was getting from his job as a farm labourer. So seeing Mark’s passion, I decided to buy him a better guitar but it was far from the ideal ones. That gave him a lift and he would play for the entire school and at other schools, earning some money in the process.”
Tindo was not like Mark but he would always support his brother.
When Mark completed his Ordinary Level studies at Mudawarima Secondary School, he was brought to Harare by his brother-in-law.
He did not leave his guitar in Chivhu.
“I found a job, first as a security guard and then cleaning toilets and the like, and I was staying in Mbare,” Mark said.
“Sometimes I would walk to Machipisa Shopping Centre in Highfield when I was off-duty, where I played my guitar and got some money.
“I was failing to make ends meet and I even became destitute, at one point surviving on US$0,50 per day after selling the only shoes I had. It was difficult but I had no option. After years of toil, I got a breakthrough.”
While Mark was trying to make it in Harare, Tindo was trying to craft an academic path.
He passed his Ordinary Levels but failed to proceed to Advanced Level due to financial challenges.
“That is how I then joined the Zimbabwe Republic Police,” Tindo said.
“I worked there for years and I also had stints with the Police Band where my passion for music grew. With the help of my brother Mark, I then clinched the top spot at the Chibuku Road to Fame and got some good money, enough to buy instruments and my musical journey took off. That is when I also resigned from ZRP to fully focus on music.”
Their father Boas is happy about his sons’ success.
“My sons are united although they are working separately, with Tindo fronting his band Adequate Sounds and Mark leading Njanja Express.
“I am proud of the boys. I was a farm labourer while their mother was a hawker selling all sorts of stuff,” he said.
“We are now better off with the support of these boys. I was also a guitarist but I did not get far. I think parents should fully support their children to pursue their dreams.”
Online Reporter