Jah Prayzah snubs Gonyeti’s album launch

By Vasco Chaya

Jah Prayzah failed to make the highly-anticipated appearance at his dancer-cum-backing vocalist Pamela “Gonyeti” Zulu’s album launch hosted by Dandaro Inn on Thursday night.

In the run-up to the launch of the album titled One Day, Gonyeti’s camp had claimed that Jah Prayzah would grace the event despite the fact his former backing vocalist had accused him of sexually abusing her while she was still a member of the Uzumba-born music star’s Third Generation Band.

Gonyeti’s manager, Filda Muchabaiwa, who once managed Jah Prayzah, insisted on Thursday night that the Watora Mari hit-maker had agreed to make a guest appearance at the event.

“Jah Prayzah was the first guest to be invited and I personally invited him and he agreed but unfortunately, he failed to turn up for reasons best known to himself. We are very grateful to Suluman Chimbetu who still turned up despite the fact that he was not feeling well,” said Muchabaiwa.

She could not be drawn into commending whether the music star had stayed away because of the allegations of sexual abuse levelled against him.

Dandaro Inn manager Oscar Nembire also seemed surprised by Jah Prayzah’s non-appearance.

“We don’t know why he did not show up. We were expecting him to attend as promised,” Nembire said.

Though Jah Prayzah went AWOL, his manager Keen Mushapaidze and members of his backing band were in attendance. The Third Generation band members even joined Gonyeti on stage when she performed a few songs.

Jah Prayzah’s manager blamed the no-show on “other commitments.”

“We had a private function but my presence signifies Jah Prayzah’s presence. We supported the event as we had promised before,” Mushapaidze said.

Despite her former boss’ non-appearance, Gonyeti’s album launch attracted a full house even though music fans had to part with five dollars to gain entry. Many fellow musicians, music promoters and journalists turned up and it was not surprising that revellers struggled to find parking space.

Gonyeti delighted the packed crowd when she delivered a track called Bhande which featured Suluman. In addition to the dendera music star, Gonyeti was also joined on stage by marabi star Kireni Zulu.

The other songs on the album are Mafaro Chete, One Day, Ndakabva Kure, Chiwoniwoni and Ndinotenda. Daily News