By Vasco Chaya
At the end of last month, sungura artiste Peter “Young Igwe” Moyo was involved in yet another accident in Guruve. Luckily, the rising artiste, who was in the company of his guitarist, Evidence Tarabuka, escaped largely unhurt.
The Guruve accident was the fifth the young artiste had been involved in for the past seven years. The first accident happened in 2011 on his way to Zhombe to bury his late father Tongai who had succumbed to non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Cancer.
A year later, Young Igwe, as he is popularly known by his fans, was involved in yet another car crash along the Harare- Bulawayo highway when the Utakataka Express Band was on its way from Gokwe where they had performed the previous night.
The spate of accidents continued in 2014 when a Jeep Cherokee he was was driving rammed into another vehicle in Hillside, Harare and two years ago when the flashy artiste and his band were rushing to Beitbridge for a concert.
Though some superstitious Zimbabweans have attributed the spate of accidents to a curse, Young Igwe vigorously dismissed this view in an interview with the Daily News on Sunday this week.
“I do not believe in superstition. I am surprised we still have people who think like this. In fact, I never consulted a n’anga or a prophet to ascertain the causes of the trail of accidents I got involved in because as far as I am concerned accidents can happen anytime, anywhere and to anyone,” the Mushonga Mukuru singer said, further adding that the view that he had inherited the supposed curse from his late father was ridiculous.
“It is common knowledge that my father passed on after a battle with cancer. There was absolutely no mystery to either the disease that claimed his life or his death. So the truth is I did not inherit any misfortune from my late father. ”
Instead of focusing on what he described as “an imaginary curse,” Young Igwe wants Zimbabweans to keenly anticipate his forthcoming album titled Mopao Mokonzi (which means boss in Lingala). Interestingly, his late father once called himself Mopao Mokonzi at the peak of his career.
“I am convinced that the album will pleasantly surprise music fans. I really raised the bar this time around. It can even surpass, in terms of quality, the great albums produced by my late celebrated father,” Young Igwe said.
He added that his decision to name the album Mopao Mokonzi stemmed from his belief and confidence in its quality.
“My producer Jabulani Ndlovu is also very happy with the album. He told me that he last produced an album of such high quality when my father was still alive,” said the Kwekwe-born artiste.
The forthcoming album has six tracks — Mweya Mutsvene, Baba Namai, Kurera Haizi Nyore (featuring Andy Muridzo,) Mudiwa Wangu, Musara Pavana and Muridzi Weupenyu.
On Mopao Mokonzi, the Young Igwe collaborated with CAPS United Football Club and Zimbabwe goalkeeper Edmore “Zikeeper” Sibanda and gospel artiste Trymore Bande. Daily News
