Zimdancehall in demand

Melissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor
After having successfully conquered the country’s airwaves, Zimbabwe dancehall musicians may want to consider going international through Channel O which has expressed great interest in their music.Though it is no secret that penetrating Channel O has been difficult for most local artistes, all hope is not lost as that same channel is now scouting for dancehall videos.

Channel O content executive, Teddy Geldart, said the channel which mainly plays kwaito, house, hip hop and RnB music was in need of dancehall/ragga videos as it was a genre they were lacking.

“We need dancehall music as a matter of urgency as we seek to become a global brand. We want Channel O viewers to be exposed to diverse music and dancehall is something we’re lacking.

“Our audience wants to watch but doesn’t want to spend hours listening to the same music hence our decision to have more unique African dancehall/ragga as we’ve less of that,” Geldart said.

He revealed plans to create a dancehall wall similar to SA hip hop bangerz, which would see dancehall music being given a specific slot on the channel.

“I hope to get a lot of African dancehall/reggae videos so that I’m able to create a specific wall for dancehall in order to develop the genre and expose the artistes,” said Geldart.

He also challenged local artistes to claim their spots at the station as it seemed as if Buffalo Souljah was the only Zimbabwean dancehall/ragga artiste, especially considering that he has won Channel O awards for that category several times.

“Is Buffalo Souljah the only artiste from Zimbabwe? He has won the Most gifted dancehall video year in year out, can we get somebody else?

“There are artistes like Orezi and Chaka Wale who have been giving Buffalo Souljah a good run for his money but it would be great to have more artistes competing in that genre,” Geldart said.

But, artistes have to know that being considered for airplay on Channel O is no walk in the park as there are a lot of processes involved.

“For a new artiste, I need to get an understanding of their listenership and look at where they’re on the charts in Zimbabwe. We also look at content and quality of the videos.

“We constantly check Youtube to look for hits and videos’ viewership,” said Geldart.

Artistes will therefore have to be active on Youtube and ensure their fans watch their videos there in order to increase their chances of being recognised by Channel O, before they submit their videos for consideration.

“Some videos may not be my cup of tea, but if we realise the video has plenty of hits on Youtube, we’ll consider it. If a video has a following, it means there’s something about it and the majority would want to listen to it.

“That’s how songs like Zambia’s Contolola have made it to the channel,” Geldart said.

A visit on Youtube showed Zimdancehall videos commanded a huge following as some videos such as Winky D’s Taitirana and Musarova Bigman had over 200,000 views. The quality of some videos however left a lot to be desired.

The Channel O executive also hinted that collaborations were another easier way for unknown artistes to penetrate the station.

“Reality is that South Africa is our biggest audience meaning we’ve to give our content a South African face. So for us to introduce new faces, we’ve to pair them with known faces to a point where they’re known and people realise they’re not from South Africa,” said Geldart.

He said integration had assisted a lot of artistes including former Big Brother Africa housemate, Zeus who rose to fame after collaborating with HHP, Khuli Chana and AKA.

He added that artistes who were already in the Channel O system had an advantage over those who did not have that access.

“There’re artistes we know will deliver like Cassper Nyovest. When he releases his music, we’ll already be waiting to play it on the station,” he said.

Besides dancehall music, Geldart also encouraged local artistes to submit hip hop music as hip hop had taken Africa by storm and was the most sought after genre.

“Hip hop is the biggest thing in Africa now. It was the most voted category at the Channel O Music Video awards.”

Though local artistes have been doing well locally, being invited to perform outside the country’s borders, they have not penetrated the international market as their music has not been marketed well internationally.

Channel O has proved to be a key channel to market music outside one’s borders as artistes such as P Square, Davido, 2 Face Idibia and Cassper Nyovest have been promoted by this channel which is viewed across Africa.

Videos may be sent to the station through local MultiChoice Zimbabwe offices or by sending links to the channel via their website.

Local artistes who have found their way to the station include Oliver Mtukudzi, former Miss Zimbabwe, Vanessa Sibanda and Nox.