What they said about Zima

Melissa Mpofu, Showbiz Editor

ZIMBABWE Music Awards (Zima) nominees from Bulawayo are generally in unison that it is high time they penetrate the Harare/Mashonaland region so that they become competitive nationally.

Speaking after the awards ceremony held in Harare last Saturday, most nominees said it was saddening that they had to compete among themselves in the Tshibilika and Traditional Folk categories instead of competing with ‘national’ artistes. Also, they had to watch Harare-based artistes competing alone for the better part of the show as their categories were presented within the first 20 minutes. 

Commenting on the Zimas, Tshibilika musician, Madlela Skhobokhobo, said: “The idea of the music awards and seeing Bulawayo taking a leading role — from the people behind the awards ceremony to MCs — impressed me. But I still feel the Zimbabwean music industry needs to open up their hearts to Bulawayo talent because we’re still lagging behind in terms of breaking through into Harare or the Mashonaland market as a whole. 

“So I feel they need to open up their hearts and we, on our part, need to work hard towards that.” 

After sitting for the better part of the night watching Harare artistes scoop 98 percent of the awards, Madlela said he feels more needs to be done in terms of taking Bulawayo talent to Harare. 

“We desperately need to penetrate Harare in order for our music to be recognised nationally as Bulawayo never got any award, that is one not from a category in which the city’s artistes competed alone. I don’t know whether we aren’t performing well, but it’ll be nice to see Bulawayo scooping the Song of the year or Artiste of the year award. 

“Over and above, I was impressed with the way we cheered up our own and Ndux’s performance as a fellow Tshibilika artiste.”

The issue of most top Harare artistes, the likes of Jah Prayzah, Winky D, Freeman, Alick Macheso and Ammara Brown not attending the awards did not go down well with many and Madlela was clearly one of them.

“I was also not impressed with Harare top artistes not attending the Zimas. I don’t know whether they were booked or not, but I wasn’t impressed. The cream of Bulawayo was in Harare. We took time and travelled there and we expected Harare artistes to be there to make it a better ceremony,” Madlela said. 

However, Madlela urged Zima organisers to improve on their hosting skills. 

“I wasn’t impressed with the treatment we received though from the Zima organisers. We travelled to Harare not knowing where we were going to stay so we left our spouses behind. We ended up sharing beds where we were accommodated, of which some of us are very private. 

“Most times, I want to share a room with my wife or alone as I’m a very private and spiritual person. Even food, some people ended up sleeping without eating. So next time, may things be organised well.”

Cal Vin who was nominated in the Hip Hop category said: “I feel this show was 65 percent good and 35 percent bad. I’ve never hung out with the likes of Clement Magwaza, Madlela and Ndux Junior so the event brought us together on a different level. 

“That was the beautiful part as we travelled to Harare in one kombi/Sprinter and no-one felt more important. When we got to Harare, we stayed and experienced everything together which was great. 

“However, time management was bad but I could understand as the show hadn’t been held in four years. Also, having Bulawayo people running a show in Harare, things were bound not to go well as support in H-town was kind of slow. I’m not sure if this was deliberate sabotage or they (people in Harare) were just not prepared. However, whatever the case, they need to work on time next time,” said Cal Vin.

He said he felt the likes of Ti Gonzi, Tammy Moyo and Asaph deserved to win awards as they put in the work last year.

 Another hip hop musician Msiz’kay said he enjoyed the trip to Harare as he got to share notes and ideas with fellow artistes.

“The trip wasn’t bad at all as I had great company in the form of other artists and nominees. However, better and more comfortable transport would have been nice,” he said.

The treatment they received on the Red Carpet did not go down well with him as “presenters on the red carpet did not know most of the artists from Bulawayo and I feel this could have been avoided by doing a little bit of research.” 

On the awards generally, Msiz’kay said: “They also weren’t bad although they could have started sooner.”

Ndux Junior who performed on the night and was nominated in the Tshibilika category said: “It was a great event to be cherished forever although I feel urban corruption will destroy our Tshibilika genre.”

Black Umfolosi founding member, Sotja Moyo, who had a tough time commenting on the just ended Zimas as he did not want to seem bitter after losing out in the Traditional Folk (Ezomdabu/Imbube category) said: “In short, I’d like to say the effort and objectives of the Zimas are awesome. Big up to the organising committee and the sponsors.”

However, Moyo said it was saddening they had to watch Harare artistes competing alone, something he said needs to be changed.

“As we sat watching Harare competing by itself, I personally wondered if there is a level playing ground in the national media, especially in terms of airplay on radio and TV. As we celebrated our own nominees from Bulawayo, the majority of them (people in Harare) didn’t even know anything about them.”

Rapper Asaph, who was also one of the performers on the night, said: “The Zimas were cool for me because I feel they really represented Zimbabwe, from the performances to the different people who presented awards. 

“The ceremony started late, but once it did, the programme flowed smoothly. I can’t wait to see these awards grow and develop.”

Bolamba Culture Birds who had a false start after being nominated in the wrong category said the awards need to be transparent.

“The awards are good as they’re motivational for artistes. We liked the performances, Red Carpet and all but however, I think they have to improve on the selection of categories. There are some, for example us, we sing traditional folk so they combined that with imbube groups yet these are two different genres. So adjudicating such is so difficult because we use instruments and for imbube it’s just a cappella so coming up with the correct group becomes difficult,” Mthabisi Dube, Bolamba director explained.

He said Matabeleland artistes need to challenge themselves and consider penetrating the national scene if they are to become forces to reckon with.

“I think we limit ourselves so you’ll find that Song/Artiste of the year won’t be won by us because we don’t mingle with the guys from Mashonaland so the majority of people won’t know us. Truly, I can’t blame those who vote because the likes of Winky D and Freeman come this side (Matabeleland) to perform and get used to the region. So we need to stop limiting ourselves, but instead challenge ourselves if we’re to make a mark.” 

Winning imbube group Indosakusa: The Morning Star said: “The Zima awards were well organised. We were transported to Harare and were well received there. That was very good and we’re very happy to have been nominated for a national event of this magnitude.” 

The group’s founder, Oscar Siziba Thobela, commended the likes of Ndux Junior, Novuyo Seagirl and Asaph for putting Bulawayo on the map through their well-choreographed performances. 

“We’re glad that as people of Bulawayo, we represented our city well. We also met other national artistes which was amazing. Most importantly, we’re glad we won Best Traditional Folk (Ezomdabu/Imbube).