TOP South African gospel diva Rebecca Malope, who staged shows in Harare and Bulawayo over the weekend, has urged local gospel musicians to complement their artistic talent with education for the betterment of their careers.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
Malope (47) made the remarks in an exclusive interview with NewsDay on the sidelines of her performance at the Gospel Divas Concert on Saturday at Harare Gardens.
“As artistes we are now living and working in an era in which talent only is no longer sufficient qualification in our careers. While many artistes might pride themselves of the artistic talent, the reality is that there is need to subsidise our talent with qualifications and education is the key,” she said.
“Zimbabwe boasts of a lot of talented musicians and it is high time they reinforce their careers with education so that they are able to even challenge those in the habit of trying to fatten their pockets at their expense simply because they would have failed to carefully examine contracts before signing them.”
The award-winning musician said she was once a victim of contractual exploitation, having signed a contract without carefully scrutinising it, and she did not want it to happen to upcoming artists.
“Talking from experience, being educated as an artiste helps one to have an understanding in terms of signing contracts or endorsement deals to avoid being exploited,” she said.
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Malope rose to international stardom in the late 1990s and has released 35 chart-topping albums that have won her several awards and sold millions of copies across the world.
She attributed her success in the competitive industry for the past three decades to hard work powered with determination and God’s guidance.
Her show was a joyous occasion for fans who thronged the Harare Gardens as Olivia Charamba supported by husband, Charles, headlined the star-studied line-up of local performers including Amanda Sagonda, Agatha Murudzwa, Carol Mujokoro, Irene Tigere, Olinda Marova-Ziwenga, Bethany Pasinawako-Ngolomi, Sharon Manyonganise, Joice Simeti and Hannah Chikosi-Mapepeta.
With their energetic performance that left the appreciating crowd that braved the chilly weather to grace the concert calling for more, Olivia Charamba and the Fishers of Men drew cheers from the crowd before making way for Malope.
The South African gospel music queen was a marvel to watch.
In the midst of her performance, Malope urged Africans to be united and denounced xenophobia attacks that left hundreds of people dead in her home country.
Malope also belted out some sing-along hits, creating a praise and worship mood at the concert that saw many fans capturing the moment through their smartphones.
The highlight of the show was when she (Malope) invited all the local acts on the stage as they performed the song, Oh Lord I Thank You, much to the delight of the fans who also joined in singing and dance.
Concert organiser Barbra Chikosi of Red Rose Entertainment said she was pleased with the energetic performance displayed by Malope and the local acts. She saluted fans for coming to the concert to support the female musicians.
“All the performers were amazing as they delivered polished acts, proving critics that they were still a force to reckon with despite that some of them are being labelled as spent forces simply because they are not staging shows frequently,” she said.
From the line-up of performers only Rumbi Zvirikuzhe did not turn up for the concert as she failed to get a connecting flight in time from Namibia, where she is studying.
Chikosi said the idea behind the concert was to celebrate successful female gospel musicians who were also mothers through rubbing shoulders with Malope on stage as she celebrated 30 years in music.
