By Kennedy Nyavaya
Tuesday marks a year since rapper Ti Gonzi almost met his fate in a horrific tale that saw him spend days unconscious and holed at a city hospital.
Born Tinashe Gonzara, the defiant lyricist may have had a bitter-sweet 2019 in which he visited the hospital, for check-ups as much as the studio and concerts but he remained resolute.
In an interview with Standard Style on Friday, the Kufamba Murima hit maker, who literally saw his life flash before his eyes, recollected the incident that changed his life.
“It [the near-death experience] changed the way I view life and the way I view God as well as the good things He has done for me,” he recalled.
Although the assailants have not been apprehended amid what he blamed on laxity in the country’s policing, the musician, set to turn 27 years next month, said apart from disappointment in the system he had learnt a great deal from the experience.
“There has not been any new details since then and I just take it that the police are not doing enough about it or pursuing the case as they are probably focusing on minor crimes,” he said, adding:
“But, I am just thankful for life and whenever I think about it I feel inspired and motivated, it just strengthened me.”
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Regardless of the harrowing experience, Ti Gonzi went on to rekindle the musical magic last year and has of late been deservedly scooping awards, with the biggest being the Best Male Musician gong at the premier National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) recently.
After winning the award, the bad boy rapper announced that he was “quitting bad habits” and claims to have stayed true to his unprecedented declaration.
“Before winning the Nama award I had been a drug addict, but some of these wins come with responsibility and I meant every word when I said I had quit,” he said.
He added that his decision had not been easy, but had to be done as he hopes to influence others in the same predicament to reassess their actions.
“My decision was made after assessing the negative effects on my life of taking drugs and it depends on how people will take it, but hopefully they will follow what I preach [through music] and do at the same time,” added Ti Gonzi.
Meanwhile, he also promised to release his much-anticipated album as well as the more local and international collaboration as the year progresses.
“I will continue to do what I know best this year and will be releasing the album which has been edited a bit from what it was last year,” he said.
