Moldy and improvised studios in storage rooms in the houses of Mbare, one of the poorest and most populated neighborhoods of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, have witnessed the birth of the zimdancehall. This musical genre, influenced by dancehall Jamaican and the reggae, In just two decades it has become the most popular type of contemporary music in the country, a style that engages followers, mostly young people, within Zimbabwe and among the diaspora in Europe and North America, says Charles Nota, a Zimbabwean music expert. . “Musicians and producers emerged overnight in Mbare and became instant celebrities and acquired some wealth, but they never left their neighborhood. As they themselves often say: ‘we stay with the people’, explains the expert.
Mbare, located southeast of the capital, is one of the worst maintained neighborhoods in Harare. “Essential things like sidewalks or tap water are missing,” says Tatenda Matenga, a former councilor of the suburb where an estimated 800,000 people live. However, the stigma that weighed on the neighborhood has been partially erased after the appearance of the zimdancehallwhich is a hit at weddings, nightclubs, schools and even corporate events. Today, Mbare “has earned some respect as the place of origin of the rhythms dancehallexplains Matenga, although the discussion about who created this musical style is a debate that remains open in the country.
For the musicians of Mbare, the zimdancehall It can be a way out of poverty. “I have lived in Mbare all my life. I was the first to buy a car and act on television, all thanks to zimdancehall” says Dr Riddim, one of the famous artists of the neighborhood.
It is an entire underground economy that has emerged with force. All without formal musical training, but with passion and talent to sing anywhere
Njabulo Guta, Secretary of the Mbare Musicians Forum
Njabulo Guta, secretary of the Mbare Musicians Forum, an informal network, estimates that there are about 2,100 informal musicians producing music. zimdancehall in the storage rooms of homes with microphones rescued from pawn shops, and second-hand computers, mixing consoles and keyboards. “It is an entire underground economy that has burst forth with force. They are singers, composers, choreographers, dancers, videographers, DJs, producers, or promoters. All without formal musical training, but with passion and talent to sing anywhere, from rat-infested apartments to tributes to single mothers,” he points out.
On average, a modest song allows the musician to earn zimdancehall 12,850 euros a year in live performances throughout the city and the country, claims producer and former composer Senior Musareketa. A very successful song, he estimates, can bring in 34,000 euros a year for a very popular artist. “He zimdancehall “It has changed the lives of the musicians, their families and, in general, the municipality of Mbare,” he says, while playing an animated music track on a Samsung mobile.
Music at the service of the Government?
However, in recent years the zimdancehall has been tainted by allegations that link some of its most popular singers and producers with members of the country’s Government, chaired by Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was re-elected in 2023 in elections held in a “climate of fear and” full of irregularities ”, as reported by international electoral observation missions. In accordance with these accusations, the Zimbabwean government has begun recruiting influential stars of the genre to sing at its rallies. “The producers and musicians who now rap for the Government work for a reward. I used to like their music, but now I see them as belly dancers for a dirty regime. I refuse to attend their shows or buy their songs,” says Jarden Mhaka, a 22-year-old university student living in Mbare and a fan of the musical genre.
One of the most media cases has been that of Arnold Kamudyariwa, known as DJ Fantan, one of the best producers of zimdancehall, arrested in January 2021 and sentenced to six months in prison for defying Covid rules and staging a packed jam session with street musicians. The young man should have served his sentence in one of Zimbabwe’s prisons, but he was quickly released after paying a small fine. Just a month later, in February, she posed with Mnangagwa’s twin sons at the presidential palace, according to local media. Since then, he has performed at some rallies of the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which has ruled Zimbabwe for 40 years. In February this year, Wicknell Chivhayo, known for financing the ruling party, thanked him publicly through Facebook for “supporting ZANU-PF at rallies during the election period.” The gratitude was accompanied by a Mercedes Benz, as revealed by Chivhayo himself, who published photos of the car on the social network.
If young ‘zimdancehall’ musicians resist the ruling party, they may end up in jail
Former Councilor Mapuesta
“It is not surprising that, in the 2023 presidential elections, the party in power recovered the municipality of Mbare, a bastion of the political opposition over the last 20 years, thanks to a tense campaign, coercion of the street agents of the party and the support of the musicians of dancehall of the neighborhood,” says former councilor Matenga.
“It is a musical appropriation and shamelessness,” continues Mapuesta about the co-option of the zimdancehall. “If the young musicians of zimdancehall If they resist the ruling party, they may end up in jail on unfounded charges, be banned from appearing on radio shows, or have to live without any protection in a suburb where the ruling party’s militias are in charge. to impose order and decide opportunities,” he says.
Israel Fiyo, a promising singer and dancer from zimdancehallagrees that the very success of this musical style has become the source of bitter divisions even within the ranks of musicians. “The Government cannot buy us all with Mercedes Benz,” he says. At the end of the day, Matenga agrees, “some of us want to express the real injustices that Mbare residents face.” And he asks himself: “How can those artists of z sleep with a clear conscience?”imdancehall co-opted, who compose songs to praise a Government that, in 40 years, has never painted Matapi Flats, the most famous district of Mbare?
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