Gospel musician, Kudzai Nyakudya has gone through a lot in his musical career, but resilience and determination have kept him alive in the fraternity, where controversy is second nature.
By Jairos Saunyama
Just like any celebrity, the star has been in the media for both good and wrong reasons.
“If you are a celebrity or famous person, you are the target for those who hate you. The media is quick to capture that, even if it is not true. But I am a winner and will overcome all obstacles,” he said.
Last November, the musician, who draws inspiration from South Africa’s gospel sensation, Lundi Tyamara, was accused of sodomy during avisit to South Africa, where he had a number of shows lined up.
The accusations went viral on social media platforms, with the musician accused of sodomising a young boy in a hotel in Mzansi.
“I was shocked by the news, even up to today, I am still trying to figure out who peddled those lies. I went to Johannesburg with Baba Manyeruke, where we were welcomed by Reverend Togarepi Chivaviro. We were all billed to perform in Durban and Cape Town. We were always together.
“When we travelled to Durban, we shared the same room. I was shocked to get news that I had sodomised someone, even Baba Mnayeruke and Rev Chivaviro were shocked. I suspect there are people who wanted to cause havoc and disturb our mission of perfoming that night. To make matters worse, according to the false allegations, this was said to have happened on a Tuesday, but on that day I was in Harare, I got to Mzansi on a Thursday,” recalled Nyakudya.
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To add to his controversies, a few years ago, Nyakudya was arrested while on the streets selling his own music.
“I had to do it, to sell my own music so that I get something. My then recording company, Diamond Studios are the ones who took me to the police. The guys were not doing enough to sell my music. I would get $90 in three months in royalties, which is very little. No musician can survive on such money.
“I then made a deal with the studio to reduce the CD price. They would give me the CDs at 50c, and I sell them at a dollar each on the streets. This worked well, in that I would sell 300 CDs per day.
“Diamond Studios then failed to supply me with CDs for their own reasons and I had to duplicate the CDs leading them to report the matter to CID fraud,” he said.
Nyakudya said the studio could not take the matter to court, as there was a breach of contract. “My marriage with studios ended that day. I am now making my own CDs and it is the best way to go. I do the marketing and distribution myself,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nyakudya is on a nationwide tour marketing and distributing his latest album Pfumo Rinobaya. Yesterday, he was in Chinhoyi before proceeding to Karoi.
The Jerusarema hitmaker is also a victim of piracy that has left a number of musicians counting loses. He is one of the musicians, who sell their music on the streets, a new trend that is being adapted by local musicians to beat piracy.
Some of his popular albums include Kudzai Ishe, Hallelujah, Ini Naye-Story of My Life, Gadziriro and Mabasa.
