Sad SONGS,By Nomvuyo Mdluli- posted 29-01-06
MAJAHAWODWA Ndlovu, popularly known as Jeys Marabini, made his debut in 2002
with the hit song and video, Emarabini. He then followed it with two more albums, Thuthukani Ngothando and Sounds
Of Today and Tomorrow. Like his predecessors, Lovemore Majaivana, Jeys held
hope of the people of Matabeleland
that at last their music messiah had been born.
However he has had to contend with problems to do with this region. In the
80s, Majaivana’s songs echoed the pain of being exiled in Harare
expressing firmly the resolution to come back home if at all, “factories were build”. Living in the shadow of
Harare is the main problem that artists in Bulawayo
have to grapple with.
“The problems faced by artists in Matabeleland
are so many, they are insurmountable. But I take them as a challenge,” said Ndebele poet, Albert Nyathi. Nyathi who
is based in Harare.
“In Bulawayo
we have had to put up with a problem of promoters who undervalue us and force
us to undercharge for our shows. These promoters have this habit of calling dance groups because they are cheaper. Worse still
they have the habit of calling artists from Harare when we
are here,” said Sikhululekile Mpofu, one of the few young woman to make an impact in arts.
“The media also have a role to play and are somehow biased in terms of
exposing the musicians. Television is the chief culprit and this discourages upcoming artistes,” said Jeys, “I’m
a full time musician. I rehearse from Monday to Friday to produce my work but eventually I am not known or publicized and
this frustrates me as a musician and individual.”
Jeys noted that it even frustrates the fans.
Nyathi said another challenge was over-flood of music from South Africa, which is compounded by DJs who want to play
music from only one region. He added however that that was slowly changing as some DJs play balanced music.
Sikhululekile chose to be introspective and said some of these problems were
compounded by the lack of unity of purpose among the artistes in the region.
“We’ve formed an association meant to look at the interests of
artistes in the region, but fellow artistes are not serious at all. Only a few of us are paid up members. I believe the attitude
of some of our artistes is also an aggravating factor,” she said.
Jeys sees Matabeleland artistes as prophets
without glory at home.
“Musicians from Matabeleland region
need back up from the society as well as promoters. We need exposure but all that is limited and there are a lot of unheard
artistes. “We need that encouragement and support from our people to get uplifted,” he said.
Nyathi believes that the solution lies in being proactive and turning problems
into challenges arguing that young talent in people such as Otis Ngwabi, Skhue and Beater Mangethe, point to a promising future
for music in the region.
However what has been the problem over the years is breaking through. They
remain at the level of upcoming artistes until they leave the industry.
“There is need to have a big festival to markert this talent and other
smaller festivals to follow up on it,” said Nyathi.
The general economic standard of Bulawayo, owing
to biased national policies, has meant that Matabeleland artistes operate within a discouraging
context. Fewer factories, influx of workers, especially civil servants from other regions, means that the buying power of
Matabeleland songs, is very low, hence they continue to sing sad songs.
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