dyton mupawaenda
Arts Reporter
Renowned stone sculptor and traditional music exponent Bryn Taurai Mteki, who used to be popularly known as Sekuru Tau, has rebranded to MhondoroSekuruTau, in a move he expects will continue growing his brand.
This is the third time the artiste has changed his name
In an interview with The Herald Arts, MhondoroSekuruTau confirmed the latest development and said the new name change begins today.
“The name change is a movement, not an inspiration,” he said. “I started as Taurai back in the 2000 period then around 2007, I then changed my name to Sekuru Tau, as I have said it is a movement. A boy becomes a man and a man then matures. Now I am MhondoroSekuruTau, which is one word.”
MhondoroSekuruTau said his journey had been mixed with different commitments.
“The whole essence is about the movement of life,” he said. “My journey has been pretty much mixed with a lot of things. I am full-time businessperson, a musician, a politician and a sculptor as well.
“This then stops me from committing fully to music, but all the same the journey has been so good and the pressure somehow inspires and I then decide to back to the studio.”
He chronicled how he started music.
“For the record, I started music in 1998 when I met United States songwriter and music producer R Kelly, through my sculptors which inspired him. He then said my artwork has a story of music. I was much inspired by those words,” he said.
“I then started promoting Thomas Mapfumo, the late Stella Chiweshe and Virginia Mukwesha among others. I also brought different groups as I was much more into promotion.
“I invited Bothwell Nyamhondera to one of my studios back then and he said I should record. We did ‘Kurauone’ which had the hit song ‘Ambuya’. I never stopped and he helped me produce hit songs like ‘Nora’.”
MhondoroSekuruTau said because of his creativity in art, it has been easy and a walk in the park.
“It has been easy because of my ingenuity as an artiste,” he said. “It’s like a movement from sculptor to music then I stopped a little bit and came back in 2018 where I participated in the election as the only independent presidential candidate.
“I even announced quitting music, but having re-joined the political party, Zanu PF, I ended up coming up with serious sculptor projects, some will be unveiled soon. Musically, I decided to come back on stage, and in weeks to come I am releasing some of the music that I have been working on.”
MhondoroSekuruTau said he was back in music for good.
“I am coming on stage and this will be permanent and I will not be saying that I am stopping. We are now concentrating on branding our traditional music to become the national band,” he said.
“We need to showcase our Zimbabwean music and culture out there and right now we will be focusing on our costumes and type of music that is traditional. The good thing about our music is that it is not only entertaining, but educative. I have to give what I have as an artiste.”
Online Reporter