adminShingirirayi Mugodi
UPCOMING Afro-pop musician, Cleopatra “Cleo” Mheta, is happy with the response to her single titled ‘‘Jah Bless.’’
In an interview, the 27-year-old Afro-pop musician, who has been in the game for some time, said the track was a prayer to God for strength.
“The name of the song is called Jah Bless and it is a prayer that is in the form of a song. It talks about how I want God to guide me on the things that I do today.
“It is from a youthful perspective where I am asking God to be with me every step of the way,” she said.
Cleo said her single has also earned her praises from fellow artists.
“Ammara Brown commented on the video on YouTube saying the song is awesome while Nutty O posted the video on his Instagram account.
“People have been telling me how much they relate to the song and how they like it. This is not my first song though, I have done a few songs before and I am working on more right now with other artists.
“I have a few collaborations that I am working on with other artists.
“In 2018, I released a number of singles, one of which is called Handisiye, and was produced by Macdee,” said Cleo.
The upcoming artist said she was not yet sure of the genre to pursue.
“Currently, I have been trying to find myself, I am doing some experimental genres. My main focus is, however, on trying to do Afro-pop.
“I want to be doing Afro-pop because it is on the lighter side of life and brings more joy to the people,” she told H-Metro.
Cleo says she gets her inspiration from what she used to see, and hear, while growing up.
“I started singing when I was eight years old as I was inspired by a lot of grown-ups I would see at church. I also used to watch Mariah Carey on stage and I would start picturing myself doing that as well.
“I started recording music when I was 16 and also playing the guitar,” Cleo said.
“My musical journey has been a mixture of both good and bad experiences, which I guess made me strong.
“I have learnt a lot from my music, and mixing with different people, from all over the world. It has been amazing because ever since I started doing music, it has opened amazing doors for me.
“When I was 18-years-old, I got an opportunity to go to China, through my music, and I got to mix with people with different talents,” Cleo said.
She added: “That same year I also got into the Empawa project Mr Eaze was running and I was among the 10 finalists.
“That gave me an opportunity to record my own music under their sponsorship.
“Challenges are still there because being a female musician, in an industry that is male-dominated, is hard.
“Just breaking out from that male-dominated scene will take more time than if I was a male musician.
“Some of my family members are very supportive of my musical career and some extended family members still want to see how it is going to be with my musical career.
“Gaining acceptance from some of my family members has been a challenge because they expect me to be just focused with school and nothing else.
“The moment I tried showing them that music is actually a career that can make your life better it became quite a challenge.”
She hailed social media.
“I also thank God for social media because when I started singing, when I was 16, social media was not that popular.
“Now, not only people who know me, get to hear my music, with social media more people are getting to know me.
“I once posted a video of the Jah Prayzah and Yemi Alade song and I gained a lot of traction from that,” she told H-Metro.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter