Old school meets urban groovers

The gap between the so-called traditional sungura, jiti, Chimurenga artists on one hand and the ubiquitous upcoming, fast rising hip-hop/ragga geezers on the other, popularly known as urban groovers, seems to be closing pretty fast.

Traditionally, we have witnessed undeclared rivalry between the two camps. Where was the stick coming from here? Our beloved old timers have always cast themselves as the true custodians of the Zimbabwean musical culture. They slag, intentionally or otherwise the urban grooves as no less than a cheap imitation of Western/American West coast.

Naturally the urban groovers, some of whom border on the maverick, it must be said, haven’t taken the stick lying down. Their music, they pant, is an innovation to the dominant and powerful (pervasive?) American beat which has permeated the global space. What stops them from innovating, employing themselves and earning a straight living, they ask? It’s better than stealing and doing a runner!

Maybe they have a point? I mean them urban groovers. Ever heard of the commercial success stories called hip-life from Ghana, bongo-flava from Tanzania or kwaito from South Africa? To fortify their defences, the young artists and their faithful followers have labelled some traditional musicians "mabharanzi" (dimwits) who refuse to evolve. Who wins here? Surely music must.

However a good thing is happening on the Zimbabwean music scene at present. I can vouch for it, being based in Zimbabwe myself. There seems an irreversible meeting of the minds between our two genres. An undeclared truce maybe. The consensus seems to stem from the positive view that they are all Zimbabwean artists worth their salt. They need each other's recognition. They target the same audience firstly, Zimbabweans.

Here goes! Beatha Mangethe, a kwaito artist from the City of Kings did a stunner with the undisputed King of Sungura, Alick "bharanzi" Macheso. Their collaboration received massive air play and popularised Beatha more. Word on the street has it the social commentators Xtra Large have penned a scorcher with Cheso Power too. Fingers crossed!

XQ, one of the god fathers of Urban Groovers has done a track, Panerudo, with the Superstar Tuku. Zimbabweans are loving every moment of it. Who would have thought of that in Ian’s Smith proverbial "thousand years".

Afro Jazz outfit, Africa Revenge, have met the grand daddy of Zimbabwe R'n B Prince Tendai with a track titled 'November Rain'. Accompanied by an exquisite video, it won't surprise if a second KORA is in the offing for them guys after Prince Tendai made history with his anthem, "I love your character", in the mid nineties.

The ever so raunchy Sku again from Skies along with POZ have done a sing-a-long goodie for the mothers and enlisted the services of dub-poet Albert Nyathi for the poetry.

Let me treat the base line here: Zimbabwean musicians have realised that they all need each other to have and to hold. The young hip-hop/ragga artist definitely needs the huge audiences and the "long dollars" that almost always follow the museve (sungura) and other Zimbabwe pop stars. The young artist will gain recognition and respectability. Thus they need to work smart and hard. Take it or leave it!

The traditional artist, no doubt, needs to court the young and adolescent audience that revere the urban grooves. If they can do that successfully, they will stay in showbiz longer.

The meeting of minds that I am treating here guarantees that Zimbabwean musicians of all genres interact with various audiences at all times thus creating a true identity for themselves. That is Zimbabwean music. No beef!

I will make a follow up on the meeting of minds on what I think is an exciting development on this novel move. Watch this space.