Chipaz: The ‘broke thug’ . . . Artistes cry foul over payment fees . . . Business woman owed thousands

By Sindiso Dube

When controversial promoter Chipaz went under, word on the street was he had dry pockets and chapped lips. He had gone broke and the man who had dominated the arts industry and barricaded other promoters out of venues and away from certain artistes had finally run his course.

He vowed he wasn’t as broke as a church mouse and signaled his return with the Cassper Nyovest show. But the story apparently ended in ugly fashion as the street-thug ending says Chipaz has a dictionary that does not carry the three words “good”, “faith” and “honour”.

It turns out now that Bulawayo artistes are crying foul over non-payment of performance fees for a show hosted by Chipaz, real name Partson Chimbodza, which featured South African star Cassper Nyovest in Bulawayo.

The show which flopped like a pair of dog’s ears, was supposed to mark the return of spent Chipaz after his long sabbatical from the showbiz industry.

His last encounter with showbiz was last year when he brought Jamaican artiste Romian Virgo for the Black Opal Face of Zimbabwe finals. Before that he had brought in I-Octane at City Sports Centre in December 2015.

Cassper Nyovest was backed by locals Cal_vin, Asaph, Gulava Se7en, Mzoe 7, DJ Liz and DJ Nospa.

Among the troupe rappers Asaph, Gulavua Se7en and Mzoe7 accused Chipaz of not paying them after their acts.

“We are owed $150, we been calling him since that night but nothing has materialised.

All we get is ‘we are still sorting out your money’, the fee is not what we usually charge for a performance; it was markedly low; so we had hopes that we would get our money earlier but it went the other way,” Mzoe 7 said.

“We have not been paid since that night. Chipaz has this tendency of taking advantage of us artistes. As much as they want to eat we also want that piece of cake. By working together we can all make money and a living, they should always honour us,” said a disappointed Asaph.

A bitter Asaph went on to show his disappointment by mentioning the issue with Chipaz in his new song dubbed Altezza Music.

However the promoter defended himself by saying he followed contractual agreements.

“If anyone is saying I didn’t pay them let them show you the contract. Some of these artists just want to be part of the shows just to increase their visibility, it’s the norm with upcoming artistes,” he said.

“Regardless of the fact that the show flopped we didn’t get the expected numbers but we paid those we had contracts and some of those who just jumped into our program were given a token of appreciation amounting to $100.

“These artistes want to be part of shows in a bid to get exposure without contracts and after the show they make up stories to tarnish our brands,” said Chipaz.

But that is not the only spot of money related bother that the embattled Chipaz finds himself confronting.

He is a very bad friend who doesn’t pay money back when he ought to, it would appear.

In another storm, a Harare business woman, Cynthia Pasipanodya is counting loses after she lent Chipaz thousands of dollars with the hope of being paid back.

It’s a storm so great that Chipaz would need a very large umbrella to cover himself from the allegations he faces!

Pasipanodya claims to have granted Chimbodza a loan of $4 000 in the good faith that he would pay it back in May after hosting Macheso’s show in Bulawayo.

Chipaz has not been seen by his benefactor ever since . . . footprints dreadlocks and all! He has gone awol!

“He came to me desperately seeking $4 000 which he promised to pay back in March after he does a show in Bulawayo but after the show I kept on receiving stories daily.

“Since he is someone I have helped before I didn’t want to report him to the police because I had high hopes that he would honour his dues.

“He was a friend I trusted,” she said.

“It’s only this year when he paid $300 through a bank transfer, which was the last I have heard from him.”

She has been sending him messages but apparently the promoter suffers spates of blindness when he gets messages from Pasipanodya.

He never seems to read them judging from the fact that he does not respond to them.

“I have been sending him messages, calling him to no avail. I have tried everything in my power to get the money back but he just will not comply,” said Pasipanodya.

Chipaz refused to comment about Pasipanodya’s claims rubbishing them as street talk.

Perhaps the chips are down for Chipaz. The Herald