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Hope Masike

Peter Tanyanyiwa Arts Correspondent
Afro-fusion Mbira princess and Kora nominee Hope Masike gave revellers a time of their lives at her 2016 opening gig dubbed “Good Vibes concert” at Alliance Francaise last Friday.

The songbird dazzled the audiences with a polished acoustic set which left them crying for more.

She took fans down memory lane with the old-time classics like “Vasikana Kangai Mapfunde” and “Mbakumba” as these songs seemed to bring back memories in the audience, as people sang along and steadily swayed to the melody.

Hope said she enjoyed her first gig of the year and the atmosphere was just amazing. She described the show as a great success and was glad revellers sang along.

“I was just astonished, I mean it is January and most people are opting to stay indoors but wow, I just got to thank all the people who came and made the ‘Good Vibes concert’ a success. The atmosphere was amazing which made me deliver the best as I always, this is a night to remember definitely.

“And remember KORA Awards has named me ‘Best Traditional Female Artist’ nominee for my song ‘Huyai Tinamate’. It is such a humbling honour for me and I am delighted to share it with you. It’s, after all, your relentless support that has seen me this far. Please lift me as you always have, so we bring the KORA home.

“A special thank you goes to Tarisayi Gweje of Chaivo Designs for dressing me for this first gig of the year, and I was also looking amazing in my make-up courtesy of Vault Cosmetics,” said Hope Masike.

The songstress is battling it out with Abbey Lakew of Ethiopia, Namibia’s Erna Chimu, Sham Geshu (Eritrea), Cecil Kayirebwa (Rwanda) and Dobet Gnabore of Cote d’lvoire for the Best Traditional Female artist for Africa, for an all Africa music KORA awards which are scheduled for the 20th of March in Namibia.

Hope has become the first female musician in Zimbabwe to be nominated for these internationally acclaimed awards and has joined Oliver Mtukudzi who won the award for the song “Ndakuvara” in 2001 as well as Tanga Wekwa Sando who was once nominated.

The Princess of Mbira has curved a career that has provided the cultural sound-track to the Shona people dating back to ancient times.