Why Nutty O needs to be disciplined

Robert Mukondiwa, Leisure Correspondent
It has been a good couple of months ever since the last major awards event on Zimbabwean soil was held.

The National Arts Merit Awards were not much of a dramatic event compared to what happened at, say, the Oscar awards in the United States. The people were relatively safe and unlike at the Oscars, Leroy Gopal, who flawlessly hosted the awards was not slapped by an irate celebrity for his choice of jokes for the set which was dignified.

Almost everyone that got on the National Arts Merit Awards stage did a flawless job. Save for the faux’ social media celebrity or two that rose on no talent at all other than populist stunts. With brain matter as palpable as the equator, one would see that the genius in one or two of them was remarkably invisible. Napoleon Nyanhi will no doubt (hoping he carries on with his team next year) know to look beyond the mere looks and strike gold on intellect.

That was certainly what they did with Chiedza “Chi” Mhende who cast the local presenters a long cold shadow as the genius in her and her Zimbabwean-based peers was as marked as night and day.

And yet as it is not against the constitution of the republic to be a socialite who isn’t bright, our one or two offenders can rest easy.

However, there was one person who needed to be disciplined for what happened at the award’s show culmination and indeed the preceding year in general and that would certainly be Nutty O.

You see, there is something inherently evil about that boy that surely, if someone had gone up to the stage and given him a slap, Will Smith style, they would have been well within their rights to do so and a little bit more. Look at it this way. Nutty O got on stage and bagged in particular, two accolades that he shouldn’t have won; the Outstanding Male Artiste award as well as the Outstanding Album award.

As the Namas had gone on a judging hiatus, choosing to honour legends in the “Covid” awards of last year, music and indeed entries were being judged over the past two years.

Which is where it was all a mess. When the man stood and made his speech, he revealed pretty much why his winning was a problem. With a glint in his eyes, he showed that his humility which he is famed for is actually hidden evil.

You see Nutty O is an evil genius. He knows he is remarkably good. Arguably the best thing to happen to Zimbabwean music since Winky D close to two decades ago. And yet, knowing his prowess in dancehall, he had taken eons to create his award-winning album while Zimbabweans suffered for years listening to mostly below-par music.

Nutty O was like the baker who makes cakes and locks them up in a basement while people suffer eating bulgur while he knows fully well that he has the real thing. He is like the winemaker that lets people take skokiaan knowing fully well he has the best brew in his cellar.

He is like Jesus sitting watching grown men and women cry over the non-availability of wine at the wedding in Cana knowing full well that with a couple of barrels of water, he can make a better brew than what the people are drinking, but doesn’t share.

For years, Nutty O was sitting on beautiful stuff, watching Zimbabweans day in and out bleeding from the ears listening to some of the worst compositions knowing he is in fact a god of music in waiting, but he hid it! What a lack of discipline!

And for that, he should be slapped. Hard!

Nutty O is not deserving of those outstanding male artiste and album awards because they are products of the past.

Nutty O needs to be elevated to in fact sit on the throne and have Mustard Seed, his earth-shattering album, declared album of the decade going forward.

His genius speech coming from the top of his head also showed a new side to the arts. A well-rounded artiste who speaks from grounded philosophy, a perfect consummate communicator who can speak eloquently on the world stage and conquer lands beyond our own frontiers. Nutty O is a genius in many ways than one.

It takes a wee bit of madness to be such a writer of music. But with a name such as Nutty, which in other meanings depicts madness, it is understandable.

He represents the revolution that Takudzwa Chihambakwe celebrates. That of the little dark boy being overshadowed by a world of colourism who declares “the world that armed with your light skins, we the dark berries will slay beasts and dragons ahead of you”; and with his sword the new king dealt the competition a deathly blow.

How he managed to keep it a secret is part of the enigma.

And yet we can be mad at the boy and say he was an evil little man letting us eat nonsense while hiding his product, but we have at least one thing that he has done which can make us forgive him. In Handipere Power, he says he shall continue poking them; he shall continue to make them see fire, because he does not run out of power.

And so we are assured that he shall continue delightfully poking our ears with his magical musical talent and that we shall see fire from his warming genius because, after all, he does and will not run out of power.

King Nutty, before thy musical genius we bow. The throne is yours!