The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
Leisure Correspondent
Do Zimbabwean music fans favour male artistes? Is it the radio stations that are biased? Or this is testament that female artistes need to step up their game.
WHERE are Zimbabwe’s female artistes? Zimbabwe has a lot of gifted female musicians but somehow they tend to lack the zing that their male counterparts have.
Year in, year out they just cannot seem to find the formula to change this.
A damning statistic, which shows the huge gap between male and female musicians, is that since the inception of the popular annual Radio Zimbabwe Coca Cola Top 50, back in the ‘90s, only two female musicians have made it to the top 10.
The jinx was broken by Afro-contemporary artiste Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave with her track “Gore Rapera”, which came in position five and Ammara Brown’s “Kure Kure” which was in sixth position last year.
Both artistes’ songs featured the most sought-after voice, that of Jah Prayzah, born Mukudzei Mukombe. One wonders if the divas could have been in the top 10 without the magical voice of the “Eriza” hit-singer.
It is, however, baffling when one tries to analyse the dynamics as the same female musicians are getting recognised on the global stage. For instance, artistes such as Ammara Brown, Tariro neGitare and Hope Masike have been touring Europe and other African countries, sharing stages with some world class acts but yet back home, they command very small followings.
Cindy
In 2014, Cindy Munyavi was awarded the Best Female Artiste in Southern Africa at the AFRIMA awards and in the same year Cynthia Mare walked away as the biggest winner at the Zimbabwe Music Awards (Zima). Even with all those accolades both acts are still little known in Zimbabwe.
Hope Masike
Masike and PaChihera have been nominated for the Kora awards to be held in Namibia on March 20. Masike was nominated for Best Traditional Female Artiste while PaChihera, real name Pamhidzai Tracy Mbirimi, is vying for the Best Female Artiste Southern Africa.
What could be going wrong with these seemingly talented Zim divas?
In interviews with some of the artistes, they admitted that there is a lot of work they need to do, but they also believe there has to be a change of mind-set in society as some have been labelled prostitutes as they tried to go all out like the male artistes.
Cynthia Mare
This has been caused by the fact that most venues to play in are just bars and pubs. Shortage of creative spaces, which are not bars has indeed resulted in some female artistes being stereotyped and thus affecting the development of their craft.
Another factor is that promoters are said to favour male artistes over their female counterparts. Some have been said to demand sex from the ladies in order for them to perform at a show. Sad as this maybe, it is said to be true. This gave birth to platforms such as the Sistaz Open Mic, which celebrated nine years of existence last week.
But the same promoters have argued that the content from the female acts is just not appealing.
A few years back Zim dancehall queen, Lady Squanda, left music lovers clamouring for more at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa), but since then, her ratings have dropped.
There are many female dancehall singers in this country, yet one rarely gets into a commuter omnibus to deafening music by female musicians unless it’s a collaboration with a male artiste.
Do Zimbabwean music fans favour male artistes? Is it the radio stations that are biased? Or this is testament that female artistes need to step up their game.
Whatever the case, in 2016 female artistes should challenge themselves to break the barriers, step out of their comfort zones and be more aggressive in their work.
The talent is there but it is the strategy that seems to be missing. Come on gals, go for it!
