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Courage Musariri Saturday Leisure Reporter
ZIMBABWE has, by and large, been let down by its artistes who do not do well on the international stage. Local artistes should be ambassadors who can compete with other African artistes. They must dominate in music, poetry, painting and modelling. They must also be true ambassadors who are proud of their country. But Zimbabwean artistes are not there yet as they are failing to get regional and international awards.
On Wednesday this week, I had the privileged of attending a workshop on gender. At the workshop, a poet from Botswana, Berry Heart, gave a brief introduction of her country.
“I am from Botswana, a former British colony. I am proud to be a Motswana because my country is rich in diamonds. The British gave us independence in 1966 before the diamonds were discovered and if they had discovered diamond by that time, they would not have given us away,” she said.
Berry acted as a good ambassador for her country. She represented Botswana well. She did not meddle in politics but preached the good about Botswana.
Zimbabwe needs such ambassadors, artistes that know their country and can stand up and say, “I am from Zimbabwe, a peaceful country, full of earthly riches and educated people.”
This is the type of artiste that deserves to be given an ambassadorial post, be it for Red Cross or any other organisation that needs representation.
She stands for her country, is a gender activist and she is proud to be a Motswana. But the question is how many of our artistes have we heard say this, even at their shows locally?
Oliver Mtukudzi is a goodwill ambassador for Unicef, a rightly deserved position after he represented the country well on the international scene.
But it appears our musicians are rather shy to stand up and boast that they are Zimbabweans. We have many local artistes who are regarded as kings in RnB, hip-hop, sungura or gospel but on the international scene they are not there. No one represents those categories or produces a video that can compete for awards on Channel O or films that can make it on MNet.
Over the past years, from 2010, Zimbabwe has seen a number of foreign musicians coming to perform and it is surprising that our artistes are not taking this opportunity to venture onto the international music scene through collaborating with these artistes.
Nigerians, P Square have done a number of collaborations with well known artistes and now are a global duo. Their song, Onyinye, with Rick Ross was nominated for best collaboration for BET awards.
BET Awards were established in the US IN 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year.
When Roki did the Chidzoka video, many viewed him as the next big superstar. The video was done professionally and internationally some abroad doubted he was indeed a Zimbabwean just like they did with Audious Mtawarira. This was not a surprise because on the international scene local artists are basically unknown. After the video, Roki has vanished musically.
We continue to listen to foreign music — Zambian, South African, Nigeria and DRC rhumba. This is not a bad thing but as much as these guys are popular here, Zimbabwean artiste should be popular in foreign lands as well.
Keke, a South African gospel artiste, did Makatendeka Jesu, (You are faithful O Lord) a song that originated from this country, but many thought he actually wrote it. It became a hit on the gospel scene in Africa. A foreigner had to make a local song a hit on the continent!
We can however, celebrate that, one artiste from Zimbabwe — Mkululi Bhebhe made it to the Joyous Celebration 16 team.
Sulumani Chimbetu, the man of the moment, should take the region by storm. He is still young, owns a clothing label and has charisma. This is his time to build himself into an international brand.
The Namas were held, artistes were recognised for their hard work in 2012 but up to now songs, albums, dramas, dance groups and sculptors that were awarded on that eventful night in Bulawayo have just gone back home and rested.
We should not rest until we conquer Africa. Locally we are known but we need to be noticed regionally and internationally as well.
Online Reporter