adminNkosilesisa Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
HISTORICALLY the City of Bulawayo has produced great stars in different music genres, particularly imbube, jazz, hip-hop and kwaito but a recognised sungura act is still to emerge from the city and Supernova Stars might just be the group to change the reception of sungura music in Bulawayo.
Made up of seven members, the group was formed in 2013, choosing sungura as their niche as they believe it is the most authentic way to communicate with their fan base which is made up mostly of middle-aged males, although they do attract a following from other demographic groups.
“There are a number of reasons why we chose sungura as a niche. Firstly, it is the genre that we are most competent in but more than that it is generally a clean genre of music that does not become irrelevant to a listener as they age. It is a medium for communicating real issues that can effect social change; as a result, our target audience is very broad as we believe we have a message for all groups of people. We target different people from all religious, social and economic backgrounds because music is a universal language,” said Gadzirai Moyo fondly known by his band as Gadzi, the spokesperson of the group.
As with most professional arts acts in the country, the Supernova Stars are a self-funded group, who identify with the everyday challenges that face local artistes; piracy and difficulties in getting airplay but for them particularly securing a consistent fan base from within the Bulawayo community from which they operate.
“Obviously like most artistes, we fall victim to piracy, and getting on radio is quite a challenge but the biggest obstacle is perhaps because of our genre of music. Sungura is not as popular in Bulawayo as it is in other parts of the country. Regardless of that, our first album was received reasonably well and we hope that will be the same story for our second album,” Gadzi said.
In spite of the said challenges, the Supernova Stars refuse to be deterred by any of the obstacles they face along the way as they are set to release their second album on 21 February.
The album, Submarine is a six-track project which includes songs about love, death and coming of age. Hopefully this will be the album to put the Supernova Stars on the map.
@nkocykay
Bongani Ndlovu