The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe – Leisure Correspondent
These ghetto ambassadors need to up their game and begin to appreciate the difference between recording in the studio and delivering a live performance.
THE rise of Zim dancehall has arguably had a major impact on the country’s youth more than any other genre that has been pursued by local musicians in the past decade.
Western music cultures, which for long had a grip on the lifestyles of most young people, have in recent times been pushed to the peripheries by the rise of Zim dancehall.
From the way people speak and dress, Zim dancehall is setting trends in Zimbabwe with its Jamaican influences.
However, in light of this impact, there is need for proponents of the genre to begin to grow in their appreciation of music, particularly live performances.
Most of them have travelled far and wide, sampling local and international crowds. lt is high time they show that they have what it takes to mount a challenge on the international stage.
The recent Busy Signal show in the capital exposed the weaknesses of some of the so-called big five Zim dancehall artistes; particularly Seh Calaz, Killer T and Soul Jah Love.
The three are perfect examples of why there is need to evolve in the genre if they are entertaining any thoughts of entering the international scene one day.
Faced with a local crowd of over 10 000 people, one would have thought the artistes would run away with the show as has been the case in recent shows.
Their performances somewhat plateaued and failed to reach a distinct climax. It was as if they were overwhelmed by the huge crowd.
From one act to the other, you could tell that they had the crowd ecstatic when they jumped onto the stage but somehow the zing factor in their acts fizzled away as their sets progressed.
These ghetto ambassadors need to up their game and begin to appreciate the difference between recording in the studio and delivering a live performance.
The chanters had nothing tangible to offer the crowd. In fact, the crowd witnessed some confusion on stage and only managed to since along to some tracks once in a while.
What really kept the crowd going was not the performances by the aforementioned local chanters but the anticipation of Busy Signal’s act.
We will not even try to compare their performances to that of the Jamaican star because in essence, they did not even deserve to curtain raise for the Jamaican.
The youngsters need to go back to the drawing board and begin practicing stage performances, from presence to sustaining the momentum of the show, especially in front of huge crowds.
As Soul Jah Love is fond of saying, “Siyanisai zvinhu boys (Change things boys) …”. This is indeed the time to change things.
