BY SINDISO DUBE
BULAWAYO songstress Mimmie Tarukwana, who has starred on the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo stage as a backing vocalist before venturing out as a solo artiste, has hailed the festival’s impact in her artistry.
Mimmie will be part of an all-female line up set to perform during tonight’s Women, Wine and Words event at the National Art Gallery as part of the arts and culture fete. Other songbirds lined up to perform on the night include Tariro neGitare, Masa, Novuyo Seagirl, Vuyo Brown.
This will be Mimmie’s second appearance as a solo artiste at Intwasa after taking to the stage as a backing vocalist for other artistes two years ago.
“Intwasa has taught me to be a better artiste from the various women during their arts workshops which I have attended. My passion in life is to empower emerging females in the music industry regardless of their genre and I see that’s what Intwasa is aiming to do with the women in arts, so I’m learning a lot from what the festival brings,” she said.
Quizzed why she went solo, the Selfish singer said the move was part of the eventual bigger picture to come into her own as a musician after many years of backing other musicians.
“Going solo was always the bigger picture for me I have always wanted to be able to create my own brand, my own content and have my own voice as an artist so that is why I went solo,” she said.
Mimmie, however, revealed that working with other groups in the past was a rite of passage during which she learnt the lessons that have helped her after finally coming out of the shell to play solitaire.
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“I have learnt so much from the many groups I have been part of but it’s with the Outfit where I learnt to perfect my craft and how to perform,” she said.
“I have also developed self-confidence because being in a band that is super-talented forces you to work hard to match their level. These lessons, I believe, have helped me so far in my solo career and I’m still learning. I started with the Outfit in 2015 and we are still going strong,” said Mimmie.
“This year, I’ll be performing at the annual Women, Words and Wine and it’s going be awesome. I’ve been rehearsing with a live band so come ready to dance and sing along with me,” she said.
Mimmie is one of the 10 local artistes that benefited from Nigerian Mr Eazie’s eMpawa 100 project and released a song dubbed Selfish under the project.
The artiste, who recently celebrated her 25th birthday, has touted her brother rapper Asaph and Nobuntu as well as the late Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Shekinah and Nigeria’s Mr Eazi as some of her greatest inspirations.
