Drumbeat:Can Roki shed his bad-boy image in BBA

Standard People
Godwin Mazara He has had his fair share of controversy professionally and in private life. He has dazzled many with his talent and he has been caught on the wrong side of the law.

He has led a complicated lifestyle — making close to a thousand dollars on a certain day and waking up broke the following morning without anything tangible to show for his expenditure.  Often, at such times, he has withdrawn into a sulking shell, shunning publicity and sniping anybody who dared drag him to the limelight.

His peers have struggled to understand his erratic mood-swings and volatile  attitude, yet young ladies swoon around him, apparently finding him irresistible, leading to his reputation as a womaniser. He has sired  a string of  children to prove it.

Confident, controversial, unpredictable, complicated and talented — all these tags have been haphazardly thrown at Rockford “Roki” Josphats.

However, this Octopus character and diverse perceptions have not taken anything away from his talent. If anything, they have weighed positively on his career and success continues to  beckon at the dreadlocked urban groover.

And now, as if to put the icing on the cake, Roki is in Big Brother Stargame House representing the country — his latest achievement, if one could call it that. Today he joins the rest of other African representatives in the house but extreme uncertainty over his stay in the house is the general feeling across the country.

Comments on social networks indicate that many are unsure of what this unpredictable character will do in the house. Many fear for the worst while others believe he will have an upper hand by unleashing the unexpected.

One popular model commented that Roki was the “real Big Brother material” and will leave a mark in the house even if he does not win the show. Either case, we all concur the country has to rally behind him.

Previous Zimbabwean representatives in the reality television show had little-known backgrounds but Roki, like many other stars in this Stargame, has a well-documented background.

He won the  Most-Promising-Artist award at National Arts Merit Awards in 2004.

His video (Chidzoka) won the Best Video-of-the-Year award at Zimbabwe Music Awards in 2007.

He has collaborated with most urban grooves musicians to produce many hits.

He was once dragged to court to answer charges of assaulting his wife

Was convicted of unlawful possession of marijuana and sentenced to community service.

Has sired at least five children with different women.

These are a few highlights of Roki’s life since he hogged the limelight about a decade ago. Very few know how Roki carries himself daily besides the images that have been portrayed through the media about his career and controversial personal side.

So with some of this background in mind, Zimbabweans are not sure what to expect from Roki. But given that he will be sharing the house with other celebrities that include actors, models and musicians, Roki could be the proverbial dark horse in the contest.

All these celebrities have their known strengths and weaknesses in their country and, who knows, there might be many characters similar to Roki’s.

From the list announced so far, he will be living with stand-up comedian and television personality  called DKB from Ghana, rap icon Prezzo from Kenya, songstress Lady May from Namibia, pop musician Goldie from Nigeria, model and businesswoman Barbz from South Africa and R ‘n’ B diva Mampi from Zambia.

Very few people know how Roki behaves daily. Of course he would know that he will be on camera all the time but viewers will obviously get to know much more about Roki.it would be interesting to see what he does before he sleeps, how he spends the day, how he composes music, how he eats and, obviously, rate his drinking habits.