MUSIC pirates have hit hard on musician Bagdad Mwanyali by releasing an album with his various songs plucked from his previous three albums purporting to be Leonard “Karikoga” Zhakata’s new release.
BY CLAYTON MASEKESA
The pirated album is named Ndopane Zano and has Zhakata’s picture on the cover.
The six songs are Hakuchina Mhandara, Usarivare, Dovo, Zano, Matters of The Heart and Ndopange Zano.
The songs were plucked from Mwanyali’s albums Ndopange Zano (2003), Superweekend (2005) and Dovo (2007).
Thousands of copies of the pirated album are in the hands of disc vendors in Harare and other cities countrywide.
Mwanyali, who sings with The Oasis Crew, is widely viewed as a Zhakata copycat in the music circles. Zhakata is yet to release an album this year.
Zhakata’s last album, Zvangu Zvaita, featuring the award-winning song, Dhonza Makomborero, was number one on Radio Zimbabwe’s Coca-Cola Top 50 last year.
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A bitter Mwanyali yesterday described the act as daylight robbery.
He said: “It is so sad that people still find it worth to continue piracy and at this moment I’m sad some individuals decided to pirate my music purporting it’s Leonard Zhakata’s new offering.”
Some of Zhakata’s fans have accused Mwanyali of “musical theft” following the release of the album, but the musician said he was “equally saddened” by the abuse of Zhakata’s name.
“My debut album that I recorded with Gramma in 2003 is named Ndopange Zano. It was sold and had good returns.
“Yes, people mistook me for Leonard when the album was released, but I took my ground to market myself on my own strength as I believed I could definitely encompass my own fans in that way,” he said. He called for strong measures to be put in place to fight piracy.
