By Kennedy Nyavaya
Local musicians’ work will always play second fiddle on the international stage because it is not fully appreciated at home until validated on foreign networks, respected dancehall chanter Winky D, born Wallace Chirumiko, has said.
Over the years, the high-achieving Njema singer has been asking himself why he has failed to significantly climb the relevance ladder beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.
But, in a wide-ranging interview on Alpha Media Holdings chairman Trevor Ncube’s show, In Conversation with Trevor, the media-shy songster land a huge portion of the blame on music fans for not supporting their own.
“We [Zimbabweans] have a mindset where we believe anything that we make is not good enough until somebody else from somewhere comes and says this product is nice, then everyone else will open their eyes and say he or she is one of us,” said the Gaffa.
His sentiments come at a time the nation has been seized with a raging online debate following the release of nominees for this year’s African Entertainment Awards USA where he is nominated alongside Jah Prayzah and ShaSha. The trio needs virtual votes to scoop the gongs in different categories.
However, in similar fashion to how South Africa-based songbird ShaSha went under scrutiny when she was nominated for a BET, although she went on to bag it, earlier this year, a section of fans have pledged to sabotage Jah Prayzah in particular as a form of protest for his perceived links with Zanu PF.
Such a mentality is self-destructive, according to Winky D.
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“We have to change our mindset and we have to understand that the way music moves, in a way it is politics, everybody is there to safeguard his or her own territory so if we as a people do not appreciate what we have until somebody else comes and validates it for us, then we are in a serious mess,” he said “We want to fit in. We do not want to carry what is ours, we leave it elsewhere and we tap into whatever is being presented to us.”
Turning to reasons why he has hardly invested in collaborations with other international artistes as a way of breaking into the international scene, the 37-year-old said the exorbitant price tags for collabos make no financial sense to him.
“It is something that we have explored. “We sat down as a team and said are we going to be doing things along business lines or it’s now for the hype,” he said, adding that he would rather “buy a residential stand”.
“We are in a situation whereby most of the people when they are approached for collaborations all they see in their eyes is money. They are not really worried about the product that you are going to be making.
“Not saying I do not want to invest in my career, [but] I would love to invest in my career whilst earning something that can sustain myself on an international level as they call it and I should be able to make finances comfortably here in Zimbabwe, I should not be straining myself.”
On whether he would do a number of projects with perceived foe Jah Prayzah, Winky D would not even mention the Mudhara Vachauya singer’s name while giving a veiled response suggesting that those with such hopes can dream on.
“I am free to have a collaboration with anyone. It just depends if we have a good song at the end of the day. We are not supposed to jump into the studio and say let us have the track because of a certain hype or trend that is there at a given moment,” he said.
