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Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Senior Arts Reporter
Sometime ago, someone mentioned that urban grooves music genre will never die.
Very few believed that because during that time the Zimdancehall genre was just coming up.
And oh boy, many thought the genre will overtake the then popular urban grooves that people had fallen in love with.
It was in early 2000s when the urban grooves genre, mainly played by the youths, took Zimbabwe by storm following the introduction of 75 percent local content on both national radio and television.
And one of the urban grooves pioneers was Rockford Josphats, affectionately known as Roki in the music circles. Roki did his time and gained his popularity, but went quiet for many years, preferring to release a song here and there, and doing one or two collaborations.
Perhaps the coming in of Zimdancehall, also popular among the youths, could be attributed to the downward trajectory for urban grooves, and with that the popularity of musicians like Roki.
But now, Roki has decided to rise from the ashes like a phoenix, as he starts his journey to rejuvenate the urban grooves genre that was teetering on the brink of collapse.
He has returned with two videos namely “Zviriko” and “Uchandifunga”, which are proving their mantle.
“Uchandifunga” has already hit more than one million views on YouTube in four days, setting a record in the process.
To date, the song is sitting on 1,3 million views, with about 13 000 likes on the social media site.
Both songs have been recorded under Passion Java Records owned by flamboyant prophet Passion Java.
Yesterday, Roki celebrated his 36th birthday and said he owed his renewed success to God.
“I am here and owe everything to God,” he said. “I appreciate the love from my fans and I thank Passion Java Records.”
Besides his vocal ability, Roki is also a songwriter in the mould of American star Kenneth Edmonds (Babyface).
When he put on his songwriting cap, he uses his alter ego known as Soulbrat and he is behind penning most of Mafriq’s songs where his ex-wife Pauline Gundidza is a member along with Tungamirai Mavi (Tunga T) and Lovedale Makalanga, popularly known as Discord.
Some might say the return of Roki marks the urban grooves reincarnate as it also coincides with rapper Maskiri’s controversial song “Mbinga from Binga”.
Both artistes’ are products of the same era, with Maskiri graduating from Phathood Entertainment formed by the late Action Jackson, information technology specialist Munetsi Matambanadzo and Beitbridge based Mr Cee.
“We are happy with the response to our projects and Roki stood out well,” said Passion Java Records manager Denford Saunyama.
“We will keep pushing and we want our stable to be the launch pad for artistes.”
Roki has had a turbulent music career which saw him rising to fame after being discovered by Delani Makhalima at Galaxy Records then housed at Margolis Plaza.
Leonard Mapfumo walked into the studio to record a song titled “Seiko” and Roki laced it with his silky vocals and it became an instant hit.
That was to mark Roki’s rise to fame and it coincided with the birth of urban grooves genre.
The genre was talk of the town and its popularity was buttressed by the 75 percent local content legislation that was implemented by Government to support local music.
Roki then teamed up with Tatenda Jenami, also known as Take 5, and the late Sipho Mukuhlane and formed That Squad studios popularly known as Chamhembe Records in Greendale.
The stable defected from Galaxy where Take 5 led an outfit called Madd Flavour. Pioneering artistes include Nesto Manandi, NME, Plaxedes Wenyika, Ex-Q, Decibel and Pastor G. Then, Roki managed to create a signature that shook the industry, but misfortune trailed him like a shadow.
He blew up an opportunity to go global when he participated in the reality show Big Brother Africa, but a fellow country lady Maneta Mazani spoiled the fun and got the duo ejected from the show.
Now that Roki is back, or is he back for good?
It gives room for fans to select and enjoy different music and more hits are expected from him.
Time will tell what he is going to bring on table, that is if he does not go back to his wayward ways again.
Online Reporter