The rising star of Kalanga house music

By Bright Mawoko

Prominence, dominance and quality in Zimbabwean music has always been associated with the genre and tunes laid down by the likes of Oliver Mtukudzi, Thomas Mapfumo, Solomon Skuza, Simon Chembetu and the other well-known gurus I have not mentioned.

We can also not forget that we also have seen the sheer brilliance from rising artists carving their niche in the lucrative Zim music industry, and we can mention a good number of them. These obviously include Suluman Chimbetu, Jah Prayzah, Winky D and others.

In this resume, I would like to introduce to you a new outfit which is also wriggling its way into stardom. SINAZO is the new kid on the block. This is a new Afro Pop group which is running under the wings of Glen Records.

They recently released a classic which I will refer to as a ”Belter” in local Georgie twang. I chose the Geordie deliberately due to the fact that the man behind SINAZO is Zimbabwean born Titshabona Ncube who is now a ”Resident Geordie” in the Wallsend area of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Titshabona Ncube has unveiled his talent in both music and creative writing.

He graduated with a BA Hons from the University of Zimbabwe and also obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Town Planning at Newcastle University as well as an MSc in Environmental Management with Derby University. He is a Town Planner by profession.

SINAZO was created on 25th January under the wings of the Glen Records brand. It is an amazing talented group and it consists of Lorin Sibanda and Nkanyiso Kitane Dube. SINAZO released a recent track they titled Kalanga child. This is absolute gem and has been number one on the Urban Music Top 10 Chats for 6 weeks.

This single was a combined effort by SINAZO quartet, namely Nkanyiso Kitane, Lead vocalist Duduzile Sibanda ,backing vocalist Lorin Sibanda and Titshabona Ncube. Dj Tha Vryrals provided the instrumentals.

They also released a very insiring and thrilling track titled Bukalanga, a Kalanga house track written and composed by Titshabona Ncube and Lyle Khamal- Bosch aka Dj Dash.

SINAZO is planning to release more tunes this year and will launch their first CD very soon.
Titshabona supported by the group’s UK manager and Executive Producer Bright Mawoko is very keen on seeing the music project scale great heights and also intend to progress into script writing for African movies.

He uses his imagination, skill and childhood experiences when penning ideas which he eventually turns into lyrics. Indeed Titshabona is a great composer and is also endowed with artistry and good imagination which brought into life the current tune Kalanga Child.