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Sunday Life Reporter
WHILE there is no doubt that Zim Dancehall has become the musical genre of choice among both urban and rural youths in the country, it’s emergence and sprouting has remained a capital (Harare) artistes thing with artistes from Bulawayo seemingly struggling to lift the genre’s flag.
This however, is not to say there are no artistes who have tried their luck with the genre in Bulawayo, they are a finger count but their market penetration has proved difficult if not painful.
Bulawayo has therefore, remained a musical tributary of South African genres, much so because of the history of common culture.
The genre has remained flexible, catchy and vibrant when sung in Shona and it looks unthinkable that an artiste can do the lyrical rhymes in iSiNdebele or English and those that have tried packaging it in iSiNdebele do not have a success story to tell.
But that Zim Dancehall has traversed the country’s tribal divide speaks volumes of its power and any serious youthful artiste thinking of getting in the cut-throat music industry would want to try it.
The genre has quickly substituted the once popular urban grooves genre that was a little cool and in most cases a fusion of R n B and local beats with meaningful lyrics while its (urban grooves) artistes went into hibernation.
The local youthful musical revolution saw the coming in of names such as Winky D, Killer T, Soldier Love, Jah Signal, Hwindi president and a lot of other artistes suffice to say all the popular ones are from Harare.
In Bulawayo Wyper Real whose real name is Allen Maunze has been trying to match pound for pound with the Harare artistes with his single Rudo catching the attention of many listeners who have been comparing it to Winky D’s Mugarden on local radio Star FM’s Zim Dancehall Drive.
His other tracks are Babie Zvinei, Pandobatanidza and Nzira dzangu.
It is however, the single Babie Zvinei that is putting his name on the musical charts locally and regionally — a song that talks of the dangers of cheating such as diseases, murders and the importance of faithfulness in a love affair.
Sunday Life talked to the young artiste who said although his single has been making waves, he remains little known much so because he has not yet gained the ‘‘big name’’ status.
He has 15 singles so far and has done collaborations with Hwindi president on a track called Panorira, another collaboration on Rudo with Celcious and another with Uncle Epperton on Rugare.
He said he is inspired by the dancehall gurus such as Winky D, Killer T and many others.
On why dancehall artistes have been failing to penetrate the Bulawayo market the young artiste Wyper Real said it was because there were no promoters who were working with them and marketing the Bulawayo talent.
“I have been doing music for a while now but Bulawayo is a little difficult ground for the sprouting of Zim Dancehall. Not that people do not like the genre, they do as evidenced by the numbers that come for shows when Harare guys are here. Here in Bulawayo there are no promoters for the genre and marketing yourself as a budding artist is just difficult. I have often been called to curtain raise for the big names. I curtain raised for Winky D, Shinsoman, Soldier Love and many more and I am working hard to make my work get the recognition that it deserves,” said Wyper Real.
He added that the industry was cut-throat and not for the weak. “If you are weak you will find yourself out. It needs a lot of determination and hard work as it demands quality and quality cannot be rushed. I therefore take my time so that I do not produce bubblegum music,” he said.
Wyper Real said he was happy that his music was getting airplay on Star FM and Skyz Metro FM saying his other single Kunevakainda resonates very well with the Cyclone Idai disaster that ravaged the country.
The song, he said, talks about those that are departed, those who were victims of natural disasters and accidents and has a video portraying the natural disasters.
He said he was aware that Zim Dancehall was not very popular when sung in IsiNdebele but was going to try it in collaborations with artistes such as Sandra Ndebele. He is going to share the stage with Jah Signal, Seh Calaz, Hwindi president, POY and Mzoe 7 in Bulawayo on the first week of April.
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