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Category: Music

How to be Oliver Mtukudzi

Oliver Mtukudzi is dead but the world has hardly begun to skim the surface of his greatness. In this tribute, Stan Mushava flips through the African superstar’s catalogue, looking at how conscientiousness, attachment to heritage and artistic integrity were not only central to the making of the legend but are also the universal mainstays of…
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April 19, 2019
Poptain got the right mix

Zimdancehall’s newest star, Poptain, brings to the craft a mix of social consciousness, intricate wordplay, effortless cadence and casual patois fluency. The animated lyric video for his latest single, Freedom, may belatedly bring music lovers up to speed with his song writing abilities, but the underrated chanter has been ably grinding underground for half a…
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October 12, 2018
Thomas Mapfumo and the Language of Zimdancehall

Thomas Mapfumo says Zimdancehall artists need the Queen’s grammar book or else they will forever be stuck in the ghetto of the music world.
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May 18, 2018
Kendrick Lamar – Rhyming at Nobel’s Door?

Kendrick Lamar, the most lethal warhead in rap’s disruptive echo chamber, is ever blazing new territory. He has ego-tripped on Uncle Sam’s toes, emerged as the Pope in a genre not known for its Bible-thumbing, outfoxed Rupert Murdoch’s talking heads and jazzed up black self-love. If hip-hop is the CNN of the black community as…
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January 6, 2018
Love in Time of Esap – Tribute to Mitchell Jambo

Mitchell Jambo gave Zimbabwe the only song that can be played from Chitungwiza (Chikwanha Township) to Harare CBD (at least Seke Road fly-over) even on sluggish morning for traffic. In “Ndini Uyo,” the Marunga Brothers frontman threads together covers of Zimbabwe’s music greats, John Chibadura, Simon Chimbetu, Lovemore Majaivana, Oliver Mtukudzi, Paul Matavire, Leonard Dembo,…
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January 6, 2018
Marshall Munhumwe and Musaemura Zimunya – Poetic Kinship

Zimbabwe’s highly regarded author Musaemura Zimunya once wrote a newspaper article entitled “Is Marshall also a Poet?” but the artists’ lives and careers intersected in more enduring ways. Zimunya is cousin to the classic Sungura icon in a poetic family tree that also features Chimurenga maverick Thomas Mapfumo and the late novelist and national hero,…
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January 6, 2018
Early Treat from Gospel Trio

Mathias Mhere Zimbabwe’s recording artists traditionally reserve the best wine for the festive season but gospel trio, Rev T.T Chivaviro, Mathias Mhere and Blessing Shumba, has opened the cellar in the first quarter of the year. The highly regarded artists have allowed music lovers an early treat with exciting new albums released in recent weeks.…
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June 16, 2016
Tuku Files: Humanizing the Superstar

Add caption Book: Tuku Backstage Author: Shepherd Mutamba Publisher: Mhotsi Uruka ISBN: 978-0-7974-6211-2 When discussing Oliver Mtukudzi, it is not necessary to look up superlatives: the name autonomously signifies brand value. Four decades of Tuku Music are enough to form impressions about the man who evolved from an obscure ghetto artist to Zimbabwe’s foremost cultural…
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June 16, 2016
Three Trending Gospel Artists

Takesure Zamah Ncube performs with Joyous Celebration They have kept us posted with mellow jams, but popular credit has been long time coming for Zimbabwean gospel music’s trending acts. We look at recent arrivals and persistent pilgrims on the Christian entertainment circuit, and the journeys that took them to acclaim. More than just torching up…
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October 30, 2015
Stitchie’s Love Letter to Jah

Stitchie (Photo: groovinradiony.com) When dancehall singjay Stitchie became a candidate for baptism, he read a new meaning into his stage name instead of dropping it. The unlikely candidate reasoned that while the comic stagecraft of his days in the world had left people in stitches, the post-conversion Stitchie would stitch people’s lives back to God.…
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October 5, 2015