Gospel sensation Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave made a grand entrance at the Zimdancehall awards last Thursday when she got to the red carpet in a plush convertible BMW with four bikers escorting her momentarily stealing the limelight at the event.
By Kennedy Nyavaya
Exuding the confidence of a music diva, the visibly unapologetic songstress who attracted a good-girl-gone-bad status in the recent past got a warm welcome at the event which was held at Long Chen Plaza.
While she has encountered scathing negative criticism for blatantly disowning the “church girl” tag, an unrelenting Fungisai yesterday reiterated that her artistry knows no bounds.
“I need no prefix to my creative art and I will not be cocooned by any social barriers. I need not announce my entry into any genre because I am blessed and talented to be able to cut across genres as usual.
“The music industry is my work place where I get to work with people from different social back grounds, religious systems with a common ground to develop our music industry,” she said.
The song, Vanondibatirana, which she did with Killer T became an instant hit, winning the 2015 best collaboration at the Zimdancehall awards. She disclosed that she is still a gospel singer in her own right saying that what matters are the lyrics and the intended impact.
“I sing gospel which I package differently to appeal to different audiences, however, I am not limited to just Christian songs because as a professional musician I have the responsibility to impact on everyone who looks up to me for inspiration,” she said.
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Unlike other artists who have partnered with secular musicians, Fungisai’s collaboration with Killer T which is popular in bars and clubs has brought her verbal attacks.
While many have decided to view gospel music as a stand-alone genre, in true essence its composition is Christian related lyrics that can be paired with any beat.
Meanwhile, Killer T who won four awards in the best artist 2016 (man), best social message, best album and best collaboration with Fungisai took the moment to throw salvos ostensibly aimed at the National Arts and Merits Awards (Nama) and the Zimbabwe Music Awards (Zima) organisers for unfairness.
“Zvinozivikanwa kuti chairman anombopenga (It is a known fact that I sometimes lose it)…munhu akabuditsa album rine 15 songs ese anonakidza ko vamwe vaye ana nhingi vanga vakundidai sei (a person who released an album with 15 equally good songs what did those other ones do)? he quizzed.
“Chandinoziva ndechekuti mangoma hatengwe and this year ndirikugadzira zvimwe zvima bomber (What I know is that good music is not bought but produced so this year I am yet to release more hits),” he said while receiving his last gong of the night.
The Itai Ndione singer’s failure to get awards at Nama and only one at Zima triggered a cyber-uproar from his fan base.
Killer T also came close to an outburst on stage while receiving the Zima award last week before disclosing that he was instructed not to talk too much by the organisers.
Efforts to contact Killer T to explain what he meant in his acceptance speech were fruitless yesterday.
