The Sunday Mail
It’s a dog-eat-dog affair in the Zim dancehall world and the situation is even worse for female artistes who have to go shoulder-to-shoulder with their male counterparts.
The popularity of Zim dancehall knows no boundaries as Zimbabweans at home and abroad, part with their hard-earned cash to watch the predominantly youthful musicians perform.
It takes the hardened female fan to brave the spine-chilling fun of a Zim dancehall gig. If its so tough for the female fans, what of the female artistes in this male-dominated industry?
In Zimbabwe estimates show that more than 90 percent of Zim dancehall artistes are male and as a result the fairer sex has to negotiate, everyday, paths infested with landmines.
Soul Jah Love’s wife Bounty Lisa aka Lynet Musenyi, who enjoys the protection of her husband and his legion of hangers on, friends and fans – still had no kind words for the male-dominated industry.
The “Basa Rangu” singer denounced music producers saying they wanted to sleep with every female artiste that passed through their studios.
“The problem is that they want to treat us like sex workers. The moment you get into a studio to record, the producer is busy imagining you without your clothes on. Our sisters are not safe out there. One has to be really tough out there to come out unscathed and to continue doing the thing that they love the most, that is, music,” said Bounty Lisa.
At 21, and having joined the mainstream music industry last year, Bounty Lisa says, in that short space of time, she has seen it all. She says some of the girls who are not strong enough end up “opening their legs” to music promoters and producers just for a breakthrough.
“We are as talented as our male counterparts but you realise that we are left out of most of the shows. It is like we do not exist. That is why some of the girls end up giving sexual favours for a chance to perform at a big show where one actually gets paid,” said Bounty Lisa.
Not all the divas are crying foul though. Lady Squanda real name Sandra Gazi, says “I’m just like the boys”.
The 22-year-old chanter who is no stranger to controversy believes that no softy should enter the Zim dancehall jungle.
“Zim dancehall is not for the faint-hearted. Ndekwevarume ndiko saka ndichizviti ndiri murume (it’s for men that is why I call myself a man). There is nothing that can be done by a male Zim dancehall artiste that I cannot. Where they swim I swim and where they hunt I hunt as well. I challenge them in everything and that is why you will always find me in the thick of things. I have shared the stage with foreign artistes and I have performed at the Harare International Festival of the Arts,” said Squanda.
The foul-mouthed singer, who has faked her own death, been accused of stealing from relatives and fans, and has failed to perform because of drunkenness, among many other things, said she would do anything to lead the pack.
Questions have been raised as to the appropriateness of the use of the word lady by the likes of Lady Squanda and Lady B, chanters whose lyrics are so vulgar, their language so crude and their behaviour so uncouth.
But one cannot take away the tenacity of these female dancehall singers as their counterparts in sungura, for instance, never survived beyond a single album. Andy Brown’s widow, Nadine, could not have put in a better way, as she declared that female reggae and ragga artistes were taking their rightful place in the industry.
“We are holding strong in this field no matter what people say. The nature of the industry itself leaves us with no option but turn us into ‘animals’. We have to fight tooth and nail to stay in the game. We have also been forced to bring our own style and that is why we are now unstoppable.
“One cannot wish away the female Zim dancehall artistes, never. We have become hugely entertaining and promoters now know that we add value to their shows,” said Nadine.
The Red Fox queen, who enjoys the services of the Red Radicals band, decried the love for a “quick buck” by some “young girls”.
“The problem now is that we have girls who do not want to put in the work and those are people that are pulling us back. Instead of standing their ground by working hard and demanding what is due to them, they want shortcuts by sleeping with those running the show. And men never say no you know,” complained Nadine.
Angel P, Xpatriot, Empress Fyna, Lady Banks, Idzva, Stami D and Juwela, are some of the few Zim dancehall “ladies” that have braved the tricky jungles of one of the fastest growing genres in the country.
