Talking to many musicians, they will tell you the music industry is not all that easy a terrain and some may tell you that it took them close to five years to get their acts together and come up with rythemic music that can be played and be listened to.
By Brian Nkiwane
But for Imani Rujeko Mutwira, the process of putting together a nine-track album took her 14 years to accomplish, thus she titled her debut album Reflections, Journey of a Conquerer.
The 30-year-old artiste released her first album into the market early this month and she has not stopped as she has already started shooting the video of the hit song on the album, Viva Jesu.
Speaking to The Standard Style, Mutwira said the album reflects much of her personal life.
“Truth be told, I did this album looking mostly on my life since the time I received Jesus Christ as my Saviour. There are a number of things that I decided to drop along the way. The fact that I chose Jesus Christ of all things that I had been doing before, tells the long story of a conqueror. Indeed, it’s a journey of a conqueror,” she said.
Mutwira said the album would come in a threepart series with the first being to highlight the reflections of her life, the second phase will be setting up things in her life, then followwed by the third phase where she will be ministering to other people as well.
The nine-track album has tracks that include the hit song Viva Jesu, which she is already working on the video, title track Journey of a Conquerer, Spirit of the Lord, Pupura Chipenyu, Mweya Mutsvene, Jesus Lover of My Soul, Jewel of My Heart, Celebration and Spirit of the Lord in yet another version.
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She also spoke about the challenges they face as musicians, especially those that are trying to penetrate the music industry market.
“It’s not all that easy as most people think. It will take you ages to make a breakthrough if you don’t have proper marketing strategies. Like any other products in the market, music needs to be marketed properly,” she said.
“The biggest undoing factor in the music industry in Zimbabwe has been piracy. Yes, it’s a legislative issue, but I think government should move in swiftly and put proper measures so that we don’t continue to be on the losing end as musicians.
“You would have spent hours, days, months and in my case years trying to come up with something that will send shock waves and make a living out of it, then someone just decides to scupper everything for you at zero cost, it’s not good. Something needs to be done as soon as possible.”
The album was recorded at Ghetto City Records in Dzivaresekwa assisted by producer Man Habber.
Mutwira grew up in Harare and music, kids and tourism have been her passion.
An aerobics instructor in her spare time, Mutwira is a development studies student at the Zimbabwe Open University.
“I chose developmental studies for one reason. I am inspired by the youths, therefore, I wanted something that would keep me together with youth development even if I get past the age,” she said.
Mutwira launched a kids’ foundation called Pulsate in the community, which assists disadvantaged children in Harare.
