{"id":2611,"date":"2023-05-03T23:40:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T23:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=2611"},"modified":"2026-10-17T23:46:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T23:46:54","slug":"the-njerama-files-interview-with-paradzai-mesi-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=2611","title":{"rendered":"The Njerama Files \u2013 Interview with Paradzai Mesi (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>While Paradzai Mesi\u2019s singing and playing has been variously compared to Alick Macheso, John Chibadura and Nicholas Zakaria, his attitude is evocative of Leonard Dembo at his darkest and loneliest. His first recording follows sungura\u2019s family highway but he immediately folds back into his ego, faced with industry sabotage, betrayal and paranoia.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><br>This second part of an ongoing interview series focuses on Njerama Boys\u2019 <em>Goneso<\/em> era. <em>Goneso<\/em> (2004) is the peak of Mesi\u2019s powers, with the possible exception of <em>Zviri Pachena<\/em> (2002) and <em>Masimba Towedzera<\/em> (2005). The album disapprovingly addresses Mesi\u2019s rival artists, his brothers and his own bandmates! Onai Mushava (OM) follows Paradzai Mesi (PM) behind the scenes for the messages and motivations of this sungura masterpiece.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: How is Mai Mesi (Paradzai Mesi\u2019s wife, Patricia Kapadza) involved in your work?<br><strong>PM<\/strong>: This is what I said earlier. Let\u2019s talk about my music not my life. Next question, you will be asking me if I really had five wives. Anyway, let me help you there but this is the last question you are asking about my family. I started my band when I was already married to Mai Mesi. She actually cooked for my band members during rehearsals. She was very accepting of my work because at the time it was rewarding for the family. She was also resourceful on her part. If there was no relish, she knew where to source pumpkin leaves or green vegetables to feed the band till we came as far as we did. To this day I am with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: Some of the songs on your fourth album, Goneso, address your own band members in negative light. How did they react to these songs?<br><strong>PM<\/strong>: It happens in music. She would hear the songs when they were already on everyone\u2019s lips and realize that my music meant so much to the people. She would even sing Alick Macheso or System Tazvida\u2019s songs instead of being more familiar with her husband\u2019s songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: I mean your band members. Did they know that you were singing about them as they played with you and backed you on these songs?<br><strong>PM<\/strong>: I would write one stanza which would hold the place of four stanzas when we were at the stage of arranging the instruments. It would surprise them in the studio because I would be singing things my band members had never heard before the recording session. I would have hidden the lyrics from them all along. So they would practice and question whether I was fully into it but we would be lining the instruments so everything is good there. In the studio now, they are surprised like, \u201cWhere were these lines when we were rehearsing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: How would they take the message when they finally heard it in the studio?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: For \u201cNdouraiwa neHama\u201d, we only rehearsed the first verse before recording:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Kakomo kenyadzi kane makuva, ndozvireva<br>Waunodya naye (uyu ndiye)<br>Anokuuraya<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(Diplomacy hill is a graveyard<br>The one you sup with kills you)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I merely told them, \u201cFour other stanzas come after this.\u201d I didn\u2019t want to know them to know the words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After they have played in the studio, they realize, \u201cAh, we were being made to play lyrics that mock us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: Hahaha. Too late by then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: They would have done their job and I would have paid them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: Let\u2019s rewind a little. On <em>Zaru<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: I gave <em>Zaru<\/em> as the title of the album but this \u201czaru\u201d referred to the breaking of a new of day. I am saying I will look ahead, continue the hard way, getting the little I am getting. My breakthrough will find me on the way. That\u2019s the meaning of <em>Zaru<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: What a positive album too! This is my feeling: <em>Zaru<\/em> sits well in the sungura family tradition. There are different family themes addressed from the perspective of different family personae. If feel like after <em>Zaru<\/em>, though, you slowly stop singing from these different perspectives. You become the main actor throughout your albums. It feels like, in your hands, the sungura album changes from the family album to the individual\u2019s album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: Singing for relatives, singing for lovers. My songs are address different social contexts. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Kana kuroora kwaramba<br>Usamanidzire rudo<br>Uchazoguma wafa<br>Tarira wangosara musoro<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(When marriage fails<br>Don\u2019t force love<br>You are courting your death<br>Look, you are now a walking head)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013 \u201cWasara Musoro\u201d, Paradzai Mesi, <em>Harisi Dambe<\/em> (2014)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: My view is, going ahead from <em>Zaru<\/em>, you slowly depart from that approach. By <em>Goneso<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: <em>Goneso<\/em> was a prayer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Vadzimu vangu, Baba, mundiringe<br>Pandinenge ndagona<br>Ndiwanise pundutso<br>Nhai Mwariwe hiiwe<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Pandinenge ndagona mumwe oti ndepake<br>Vanofarira nzara iwuye pandiri<br>Ndakatadzeiko hiiwe<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(My ancestors, O Father, watch over me<br>Where I do well give me a reward<br>O Lord, hear me<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>When I do well<br>Someone claims it\u2019s his work<br>They want hunger stalking my door<br>What sin did I commit, hear me)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013 \u201cZvipo ndezvaMwari\u201d, Paradzai Mesi, <em>Goneso<\/em> (2004).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At that time, some musicians were saying this man wants to overtake us from the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later, I did another song saying, \u201cI am waiting for the answer; but the answer takes too long.\u201d I was saying, \u201cSometimes you should intervene and not just stay quiet.\u201d My observation is, some people will watch as you are being played dirty but they would rather stay quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: There is a heaviness of spirit running through these albums. A love theme is undermined from within by insecurity. Lyrics about happiness sung are sung in a mournful style. In \u201cNgoma yeRufaro\u201d, for example, you repeat the word \u201chappiness\u201d countless times and yet your singing sounds like it\u2019s soaked in pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: We call that kugurudzira (yodelling). Well, maybe that\u2019s just the way I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: The 2000s were Paradzai Mesi years. Things were happening for you. You had risen in the shortest possible time from recording your first album to being a household name. On wax, though, you sound like you got so little to celebrate. Everything is just so negative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: It\u2019s possible. As an artist, it doesn\u2019t mean if I sing a song crying, I am the only one in that situation. Sometimes you sing to reach out to those people. Sometimes you sing a love song like, \u201cIva netsika Emelia, ndovimba newe\u201d (\u201cBe good, Emelia; I trust in you\u201d) and people go on to create memories to these songs on wedding day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: One of my favorite, for sure! I will spin it on mine too. Back to <em>Goneso<\/em>. I want to know your motivations for these songs. What got you into the place where you had to write this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: <em>Goneso<\/em> is the name of the album. Give me individual tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: The whole album. Most of the album, at least. On \u201cNdouraiwa neHama\u201d, you are saying the close ones are the ones who kill you. \u201cShaisano\u201d you use equally strong language, and you also ask this question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Chiokomuhomwe rudzii<br>Unokombira Para atsikiriwe<br>Pane kukumbira kusimudzirwa machete<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(What kind of corruption is it<br>When you ask for Para to be suppressed<br>Instead of asking for your own lifting up)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: You have said it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: Yes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PM<\/strong>: On \u201cNdouraiwa NeHama\u201d, I had seen that my bandmates were plotting against me. I ask them to come for practice. They take my instruments to practice their own songs. And it\u2019s my brother they were putting on the forefront. He wanted to turn the band on its head and take over as frontman. So I said, \u201cThe one you sup with is the one who kills you.\u201d That\u2019s one song. Which other song did you mention?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: \u201cShaisano\u201d.<br><strong>PM<\/strong>: What kind of corruption is it? Para plays; someone panics that I am being overtaken and pays DJs not to play Para. What kind of corruption is it? Instead of paying to say play me, you find money to kill off the next person?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: This was your experience?<br><strong>PM<\/strong>: Yes; I faced this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: Is it true that the recording of the same album, <em>Goneso<\/em>, delayed because a fellow artist influenced Gramma to cancel your session.<br><strong>PM<\/strong>: Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>OM<\/strong>: How did you handle these challenges?<br><strong>PM<\/strong>: I continued moving at my own pace, the same pace I am moving at today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Former Njerama Boys backing vocalist Richard Zandiya says an artist brought thugs to the studio to block Njerama\u2019s recording session, while a Gramma executive says it was only a question of a bigger-selling artist having diplomatic leverage with the record label, no violence involved. In any case, the recording schedule of Mesi\u2019s fourth album,<\/em> Goneso<em>, was indefinitely pitg over the phone while the band was in Mt Darwin, on their way to record in Harare. By the time Mesi was called back by Gramma, two weeks later, he had significantly rewritten the album.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Stand by for Part  3<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paradzai Mesi is the lone wolf who howls for the pack just to keep it visibly out of play. Sungura guitarists were family prefects, lending their strings to the bonds of community and country. A sigma-type genius, Mesi redirected the sungura album away from its family tropes to the service of the disaffected and ill-adjusted individual. Published 3 years ago on May 3, 2023 By Onai Stanely Mushava.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Njerama Files \u2013 Interview with Paradzai Mesi (Part 2) | Blockspace<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=2611\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Njerama Files \u2013 Interview with Paradzai Mesi (Part 2) | Blockspace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Paradzai Mesi is the lone wolf who howls for the pack just to keep it visibly out of play. Sungura guitarists were family prefects, lending their strings to the bonds of community and country. A sigma-type genius, Mesi redirected the sungura album away from its family tropes to the service of the disaffected and ill-adjusted individual. 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Sungura guitarists were family prefects, lending their strings to the bonds of community and country. A sigma-type genius, Mesi redirected the sungura album away from its family tropes to the service of the disaffected and ill-adjusted individual. 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