BY SINDISO DUBE
BULAWAYO-BASED songbird, Mimie Tarukwana, who was among 10 Zimbabweans that benefitted from Nigerian music superstar Mr Eazi’s eMpawa 100 Project launched last year, said her video under the programme will be released next month.
This follows the release of her track, Selfish, after the 100 shortlisted candidates each secured a US$3 000 sponsorship to create a music video.
“EmPawa Africa and Mr Eazi put out a post on social media that they were looking for 100 African artistes to empower by giving funding to shoot and promote a music video. The requirement was to post a video of yourself singing and caption it #empawa and tag Mr Eazi. So I did,” Tarukwana said.
“I was humbled and honoured to be selected as part of the 100. This opportunity means that my music will be heard by Africa and not just Bulawayo or Zimbabwe. And it has also given me the opportunity to understand the different sides to the music industry, beyond just singing.”
Tarukwana said although she was not among those selected to attend a month-long masterclass with Mr Eazi in Cape Town, the top musician gave all those selected some nuggets on music production.
“We have learnt a lot from him and our approach to music will be different from now,” she said.
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The songbird said she came from a music family and her brother, Asaph, was an award-winning hip-hop star, while their parents were part of a church choir.
She has worked with several bands and musicians, including Creme Voices, Takesure Zamar, The Outfit jazz band, which opened concerts for international acts including Judith Sephuma, the late Oliver Mtukudzi and Hugh Masekela.
In 2017, she was part of a Women of Valour live DVD recording before releasing her first single, Khetha, featuring Reverb7.
According To Mr Eazi, the project went beyond music videos because it exposed the young artistes to “the wider community of the music industry in Africa and abroad”.
“I will be giving these artistes the tools, in-depth industry knowledge, network and funds necessary for them to not only achieve their full potential, but to also sustain the independence they need to become music entrepreneurs,” he said.
