adminNgoni Dapira
THE second edition of the Zim Dancehall Awards was held at the East End Hall, Harare Show Grounds, last week Friday and, once again, dancehall prodigy Wallace Chirimuko, popularly known as Winky D, stole the show after walking away with three gongs.However, this time round the Musarova BigMan hit-maker did not completely hog the limelight as new players Tocky Vibes and Seh Calaz rose to the occasion and also bagged three awards.
At last year’s inaugural awards the Ninja President, as he is fondly known, bagged four accolades — Best male artiste, Best social message award for his song Mafirakureva, Best performer and Best video and choreography awards.
However, as they say behind every successful man is a woman and the same goes for artistes, behind every successful artiste is a superior manager.
Instead of focusing on the Ninja President, The Weekender caught up with Winky D’s manager, Jonathan Banda, on Tuesday and had a chat with the man behind the scenes of the dancehall star’s success since his formative years back in 2004 up to date.
Banda’s acumen and touch as a manager did not go unnoticed as well last Friday scooping the Dancehall manager of the year award, outclassing Seh Calaz’s manager Godfrey Bakasa, Freeman’s manager Watson Kafela, Shinsoman’s manager Peter Chiyangwa and Terminator’s manager Crispy.
The 31-year-old manager said the trick to his success was being professional always and being guided by principles.
Whilst most dancehall artistes like Soul Jah Luv often hit media headlines for the wrong reasons and exchange managers like shoes, Winky D and Banda have been together through the hard and good times for over 10 years.
“Discipline and being principled are key values that have branded us to be where we are with Winky D. As a manager it is always important to also understand your artiste in and out. In 2007 Winky D rose to fame but he was popular on the streets and our vision was bigger. I kept on pushing him and it was only in 2010 after Musarova BigMan that he had his official break and crossed over,” said Banda.
Banda said his other approach as Winky D’s manager was to make him a brand, which is why they are currently getting so many corporate endorsement deals.
Winky D currently has corporate endorsement deals with Population Services International, G-Tel, FBC Bank Mobile Moola campaign and recently NetOne.
“We have, however, been selective with endorsement deals. From the onset we have always stood for poverty alleviation and self consciousness of the people in the ghetto.
“So companies we chose have that vision of being sensitive to the lower people, trying to eradicate poverty,” he said.
Banda revealed that he would not take up any new artiste in the near future but currently he has been grooming aspiring entertainment managers.
Banda said Zim Dancehall was getting better by the year but artistes should be more innovative to keep it alive.
He said international dancehall artistes like Sean Paul always played around with the genre giving fans a different feel each time.
Banda also encouraged other managers to refrain from double bookings and be principled in their mandate.
“I garnered a lot of controversy for being ‘hard headed’ because of my strict principles with promoters. But now I am also respected because of my stern principles.
“I refused to have my artiste work for peanuts and Winky D up to date is a highly regarded artiste. On double booking, it is very unprofessional and bad for business. This should stop especially amongst dancehall artistes,” said Banda.
Online Reporter