Zimbabwean music – The next generation

By Paul Anthony Greene

African music has over the years grown into one of the most influential art forms in the world. It has produced some of the most poignant and memorable music moments in history and off its back many of the modern music genres so well known today have been spawned.

From Hip Hop to Rock and Roll to House to Electro to Reggae to Soul, modern music owes a lot to the talking drum whose rhythm has taken the whole world and made it dance to a very African sound track.

Zimbabwe has played its part in this with many an artist travelling far and wide from the townships of Harare, Bulawayo and lesser know cities like Gweru in Zimbabwe’s midlands and the beautiful valley city of Mutare in the country’s eastern highlands.

As with every country there are tales told of young men and women leaving home with nothing but a guitar, a drum, mbira or sometimes just their voice and a few songs, wide eyed and ready to take on the world. Of course, some do this from home but the process is the same and the results vary from seminal success, to perhaps just great stories that can be told over and over again, to the utter devastation of shattered dreams.

Dorothy Masuku, Stella Chiweshe, Oliver Mtukudzi , Thomas Mapfumo, Steve Dyer, Andy Brown, The Bhundu Boys, Ilanga, Lovemore Majaivana, David Scobie, Rozalla Miller, The Rusike Brothers, Luck Street Blues, Paul Lunga and Jazz Impacto.

The list is long and these glittering lights of Zimbabwean music have carried the light of Zimbabwean music for decades. But as the country moves into a new era and towards a new dispensation with a much more clearly defined global footprint, a new generation of Zimbabweans have emerged to carry on this music tradition.

Artists and groups like Chiwoniso, Netsayi, Thabani, Mann Friday, Harare, Metaphysics, DKR, Jusa Damentor, Tribe Afrika, Bkay N Kazz and Vusa Mkhaya have all made in-roads and have staked their claim to be part of the next generation of Zimbabwean musicians to fly the flag.

In many ways these artists are symbolic of the rich diversity of Zimbabwe’s people and her music. Others like Shingi Shoniwa have been embraced by the indie scene as lead singer of British band the Noisettes.

Many an argument has been had over just which Zimbabwean act has been the standard bearer. Oliver Mtukudzi’s name often emerges, but as prolific as he has been, he does not have the political impetus of Thomas Mapfumo nor has he had the global hit that Rozalla Miller had with “Everybody’s Free”.

Rozalla has not been as prolific and Mapfumo is often noted for being a touch too radical. The Bhundu boys a bit too pop, Lovemore Majaivana overshadowed the giants of South Africa who share his language and cultural narrative and then there was Ilanga; immensely talented with the likes of Don Gumbo, Andy Brown and Busi Ncube in their ranks, but ultimately and sadly fatally flawed.

For this generation to make its mark on the world’s scene someone will have to find their voice and take the industry by the scruff of the neck. It is a little bit more difficult as many of these acts are thrust into the global scene without the solid base of a stable home to build upon but where there is adversity there is always opportunity.

The global dispersal of the Zimbabwean community has opened new doors or many that may not have opened before. The information highway means that songs recorded today can be in the hands of a fan in Japan in hours and rocking the favelas in Brazil the next day.

Another opportunity that has presented itself to this new generation of Zimbabwean acts is the remarkable growth of a once small festival held annually  in London. The festival has since become a solid fixture in the city’s calendar and on to having a global footprint with events in South Africa, Australia and in Zimbabwe with more venues and dates to be added.

Zimfest presents the perfect opportunity for these acts to perform in front of an audience that knows and understands where they are coming from while, through its growth, introduces them to a wider audience around the world.

As Zimbabwe struggles to find its feet, music will as always play its part in providing a voice for the voiceless as well as emotional sustenance for a people that have been dispersed around the world. Success on the global stage and the ability to cross historical boundaries will also prove inspirational for the Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe.

These artists carry the responsibility of a nation’s hopes with them and their unifying power at events like Zimfest are almost a platform for civil disobedience bringing the troubled people of Zimbabwe together despite all the efforts that have gone into tearing them apart.

Rozalla Miller, Mann Friday, Harare, DKR and Vusa Mkhaya are some of the artists performing at Zimfest London this year. Zimfest happens in London and Perth on September 5th 2009, Cape Town in November and Bulawayo Zimbabwe in December.