Music has always been a subject that brings debate, with people differing in opinion on which artist has the best lyrics, or which is the best genre.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
Indigenous music has always suffered as locals often lack the resources to develop and make it competitive, but that is slowly changing.
What has been an interesting trend is the way communities relate to new foreign sounds, particularly Hip-Hop and R‘n’B, which have been accepted, albeit with reservations if not outright scorn.
R‘n’B is often considered too explicit or violent by some sections of society. For lack of creativity, local youths often copy whatever they see on television and on the internet. It is that lack of originality that has inspired Cuthbert “Cuttybeats” Mucheche to focus on what he believes are real issues in his new track, Mushikashika.
The track features Nickbwai (born Nick Kaduwa), Zarzu (real name Tawanda Ticharwa) and Cuttybeats, who is co-director of photography and the producer.
In just three weeks the video has managed to garner over 7 400 hits on Facebook Video while it has over 1 000 hits on You Tube.
According to Cuttybeats, the track was inspired by the need to tell a true story of what happens on the ground as opposed to the flashy videos that others shoot.
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“Mushikashika is a word that has been used to refer to an undesignated commuter omnibus rank but we have taken it to mean wherever one is working,” he said.
“The video tells the story of many Zimbabweans who work extra hard every day to make ends meet and that is the story we are telling. “I think this is a dimension that Zimbabwean music needs to take so that they keep in touch with reality. We work on these videos on zero budget and we cannot go on and portray a different story.”
In the video, Cuttybeats shows mainly small business enterprises at Siya-So in Mbare and vendors of different ages selling wares at termini and other places.
The video engages the audience towards understanding the real story behind the people they see every day trying to sell their goods.
The young producer said they are now working to approach Channel O and MTV Base to see if the video can air on international channels. “I am going there with the video personally so that I hear what exactly they want,” he said.
“The challenge with posting is you never really get to know why they have not taken your project.”
