‘Piracy a blessing in disguise’

biggest challenges.
“As one of the musicians from Gweru, it is not easy to break into the local music scene because we come from a small town where there is little exposure.
“But while we blame piracy in killing music, I think it has also helped in popularising a good number of artistes including myself.”
“It’s a blessing in disguise,” he said.
The “Haulume” hitmaker was recently in South Africa holding shows in Bloomfontein, Pretoria and Johannesburg where he says his music is doing the rounds.
“We had huge crowds in South Africa, where we featured alongside Freeman and a host of other Zimbabwean musicians. The shows were amazing and the fans sang along to our music,” he said.
Asked why local dancehall musicians always joke in their music, Lewaz Skatter, said it was natural that not all songs are serious.
“I think the good thing about dancehall is that it’s versatile. And yes we do serious music but you cannot be too serious on every track. At times you need to laugh and enjoy yourself without thinking much,” he said.
He said one of his favourite songs was by Freeman called “Mukono” because it inspires him to work hard.
With his debut 12-track titled “H-Hour”, Lewaz Skatter said he started singing while he was still at Chaplin High School in Gweru in the same stream as Peter Moyo.
“At the time I was doing music after school but my mother didn’t like the idea of me singing. I remember those days Peter was never interested in music and it really came as a surprise that he is now singing,” he said.
The album “H-Hour” featured the late Nelson Chibwanya’s son, Tinemishe “Tatman” Chibwanya, on the track “Matatu”. Apparently the late Chibwanya was well known for this track “Mamoyo Follow Me” and now his son is taking after him.
Other tracks are “Mash Up”, “Winter Time” and “Mababe” which was inspired by what goes on in the nightclubs.