By Blessing Vava
Zimbabwean
music has continued playing an important part in the country's cultural
history, shaping social discourse in the everyday lives of people. Over the
years musical compositions of different genres have been churned providing
entertainment, provoking debate, educating society and providing social
commentary in our communities and country at large. Music has acted as a consciousness-raising
tool to a nation’s moral, political, economic and social problems. Some
scholars argue that the economic and
political meltdown in Zimbabwe over the past decade have given rise to protest
songs as artists have become the mouthpiece of a population that is enduring
economic hardships.
Zimbabwe's rich music history that dates back in the early fifties, but it
was the years before independence from British colonialism in 1980 with music
and song being used as a mobilising tool in the war of liberation. Zimbabweans
refused to remain silent and in the face of oppression and economic hardships, they
have always used music and art to express their anger and sorrow as well as
revolutionary aspirations. Musicians are part of society and thus it can be
argued that through their artistic expressions sometimes reflect and mirrors
the feelings and thinking of the society they come from.
This piece therefore
locates the arts and artistic expression and their influence to the recipients,
the audience that consumes the artistic products. Artistes over the years have been a reflection
of what societies look like and they have managed to change the minds of
people. Musicians like Thomas Mapfumo, Chinx, ZANLA Choir, Zexxie Manatsa during the war composed music that not only inspired
the liberation war, but the messaging had an influence in recruiting more
cadres to join the war. Songs like 'tumira
vana kuhondo' (send the children to war) acted as catalysts and an important
mobilising tool for the young cadres to join the war. Music provided that inspiration and courage and removed fear in the people; it encouraged
communities to be united and support the war. It gave society hope and the zeal
to fight oppression and most of the compositions were in the vernacular
language, mainly to create a language barrier with the whites because some of
the lyrics were insulting. Music and poetry were tools and forms of social
commentary that were used to move the masses to act.
In the period
from the early to mid-1980s after the
country attained independence, musicians took a celebratory tone, helping
society reflect on the time they had endured the pain of war. The late 80s recorded a different time, it
moved from the celebratory tone to a more critical stance to the bad government
policies, corruption that sucked in government ministers. Musicians like Thomas
Mapfumo composed songs such as 'Corruption,'
Solomon Skuza had songs like love and
scandals, the JSCI which were in direct response to the Willowgate scandal,
a corruption scam implicating government officials. The government in return
banned the song (corruption) as it
felt the song was a direct attack on government and
by banning the song they were well aware of the power and influence of Mapfumo
and the lyrics to the citizens. Mapfumo had been a towering figure during the
war through his compositions which are credited with playing an integral part
as a mobilising tool. The awareness by such musicians on corruption grew anger
and influence on the masses and this led to anti-corruption demonstrations
against the Willowvale scandal by University of Zimbabwe students. Mapfumo
remained a popular act at most gigs at the campus for years as his conscious
lyrics inspired student activism.
Scholars such as Maurice Vambe argue that through
some songs artists continued to respond to the perceived socio-economic crisis
that engulfed the country in the late 1990s. More and more compositions which
spoke to the daily struggles by Zimbabweans, the economic decline, poverty and
bad policies like ESAP became popular hymns and these issues became a rallying
point by the masses as evidenced by the food riots that the country witnessed
in the late 90s. Songs like mugove (my
dues) by Leonard Zhakata, chinyemu by
Leonard Dembo became popular tunes at Workers Day rallies and meetings because
they spoke to the daily struggles of the working class in the face of an
economic collapse and the inequalities that existed between the rich and the
poor.
The influence of
music was not only for limited to the political front or to socio-economic issues affecting the
country. Gospel music also played a role in spreading Christianity in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's music landscape had been dominated by secular music, mainly
traditional music and thus the coming in of gospel music changed the landscape
all together. Early gospel musicians such as Jordan Chataika, Mechanic
Manyeruke had to compete for audiences in secular dominated landscape but
eventually finding a niche and a reflection today is a true exhibit of how
gospel music grew and impacted on our society which was mainly dominated by the
traditional culture and religion. Scholars such as Chitando
(2014) argue that Gospel music is regarded as a strategic device to spread the
word of God, providing solace and comfort in an environment where hardships are
the norm. The late 90s, going into the new millennium saw a massive growth of
gospel musicians, Charles Charamba, Brian Sibalo, Pastor Haisa, Elias Musakwa,
Fungisai Zvakavapano, Ivy Kombo to mention a few. Apart from being recording
artistes these musicians were part of the emerging Pentecostal movement and today
such churches are now commanding a very big following and until today almost
all of these churches have musical bands, and thus shows the influence of
music.
The present day
has witnessed the growth of new music genre called Zimdancehall which has roots
in Jamaica. The genre is known for its
hard-hitting lyrics which often encompass social commentary on issues like
poverty, unemployment and drug abuse. According to phendula website Zimdancehall has also been
credited for raising awareness on everyday issues that affect society like the
maladministration of local government. The emergence of Zimdancehall totally
changed the country's music landscape, as the young people found solace and an
alternative to the traditional chimurenga and sungura music whom most think is
outdated and has outlived its existence and purpose thereof. Zimdancehall has
grown to be a popular genre and is dominated by youths who live in high density
residential suburbs such as Mbare with all night music bashes called passa
passa with the youth mainly in attendance. However the genre has been accused
of promoting drug abuse, violence, sex because of the lyrics which have had an
influence amongst the young people.
According to NewsDay, a daily newspaper in
a snap survey
they conducted in 2014, it revealed that the young people have integrated music
in their lives from sources they identify with, and in search of their identities they are likely to follow the example portrayed by the
artistes. The survey also established
that many teenage boys do affirm allegiance to these Zimdancehall crews become
bullies at their respective schools.
Girls as young
as 12 can be seen in local bars, displaying deviant behaviour, wearing high
heels, skimpy clothes, bright red lipstic whilst gyrating to the sound of Guspy
Warrior hit song Seunononga. There is no doubt on how Zimdancehall has
influenced the minds of many young people, though this is mostly portrayed in
bad light. However I would say that most of these young Zimdancehall artistes
have been able to respond to the socio-economic crisis, adding consciousness
amongst the Bornfrees with refreshing lyrics, some which have become popular
terms to describe the situation in the country.
Music can change and influence the minds of
people, tracing back to the days of the liberation struggle were music was used
as a mobilising tool and inspiring the masses to fight oppression. The new crop
of musicians particularly Zimdancehall artists' violent, sex and drug abuse
lyrics have had an impact on the behaviour of the youth today. Other genres
like gospel music have contributed to the rise of Pentecostal/evangelical churches in Zimbabwe commanding a huge following.
A version of the article was published by here.
Blessing Vava writes from Chipinge and can be contacted on @blevava
