The Sunday Mail
Andrew Moyo —
SOUL Afrika, an Afro-pop group, had a promising future on the local music scene, creating beautiful music that had potential to go international. The boy band made up of Takura Shonhai and Tatenda Mathe was on the rise, gaining popularity last year with the release of numerous hit songs that include “Zvinhu”, “Gule Kwete”, “Newe” and “Pauri”, which did well on radio and other platforms.
They even released an album “Ndimi Dzerudo”, certifying themselves as a potentially explosive duo — ready to take on the world. But for some reason, the romance did not last the distance, the two artistes decided to pursue solo careers at the beginning of this year.
This split, however, has proven to be a blessing in disguise for Takura, who decided to try hip-hop with his first single as a solo act “Zino Irema”, becoming an instant hit. In less than a year, the steps this talented vocalist has climbed on the hip-hop ladder places him among the best in the country, literally taking over the airwaves with hit songs.
“Zino Irema”, “MaObama” and “Mungandii”, three songs from his biographical E.P, all had their time on the number one spot on local radio stations. His success has not only been recognised on the local front, South African Hip-Hop Magazine has placed him in their Top 10 African rappers for 2016 alongside big guns such as Kwesta, Nasty C, Emtee, Phyno, AKA and Casper Nyomvest.
With the Zim Hip-Hop Awards just around the corner, he is one artiste really looking forward to the awards night — he has been nominated five times for Best Male, Best Newcomer, Best Hip-Hop Hustle, Best Song and Best Video categories.
The Sunday Mail Leisure caught up with the sensational artiste to find out more about his music and life. Born in the historical town of Masvingo, Takura moved to the City of Kings and Queens when he was doing grade six — completing his primary education at Thomas Rudland.
“For my secondary education I first went to Victoria High School in Masvingo before moving to Mutendi High School when I was in form three and this is where I completed my O-Level in 2005,” said Takura.
The youngster could not proceed to A-Level instead moving to South Africa in 2006. He worked for different hotels and restaurants for six years. Besides bar tending and waiting tables at various establishments on the other side of Limpopo, Takura also enrolled at Emendy College where he studied sound.
Coming back home in 2012 Takura decided to try his luck in the music industry, a passion he had developed as a kid but had not taken up seriously. Then based in Gweru, Takura teamed up with a pal, Donald, and they formed Soul Afrika, a group that had great potential.
His friend Donald got married and decided to drop the microphone as the music business was not paying much at that time. Just as the dream was fading, Takura’s first manager, Tytan, encouraged him to move from his base in Gweru to Harare where there were “better opportunities” for making it as an artiste.
“When I moved to Harare in 2014 I met Tatenda and he replaced Donald as the other half of Soul Afrika. Last year was a great year for us as Soul Afrika because we managed to make music that established us as a brand in the music industry and we got to work with other talented artistes including Tehn Diamond, Tererai and Simba Tags among others,” he narrated.
Despite their success as a group, the two embarked on solo paths at the beginning of this year and while Tatenda has been silent, the same cannot be said for Takura. His switch from Afro-pop to hip-hop has is paying dividends.
He says the move was to reconnect with his past love, rapping and also as a way to express the message he was trying to put across with his music.
“I have always been a rapper so when I went solo I wanted to do an EP about my life and so I realised that it was easier to express myself in hip-hop. When I released my first single, ‘Zino Irema’ in April I was shocked by the response and the hype the song generated, and from then on almost every song I have released has been a hit.”
Since the release of his first solo single, it has been a roller-coaster ride for Takura who recently toured Cyprus and will be leaving for a UK tour this week.
“It has been a crazy year for me and I am really appreciating all the love I am getting from music fans. The plan now is to make more music and grow my brand so I can penetrate the international market.”
