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Conrad Mwanawashe Entertainment Reporter
In the early 1990s, Moyo Muchena Bus Services was my favourite when travelling to Mberengwa from Gweru for business. On that bus, the stout driver would play a rich playlist with offerings from the late “Dr Love” Paul Matavire, the late Simon “Chopper” Chimbetu, the late James Chimombe, the late Mukoma Ketai, the late John Chibadura, Bhundu Boys, to name a few. Oh and Zig Zag band from Kwekwe and Thomas Mapfumo.

“Dhindindi Furutaimu” as we called it by Matavire; “Chimbetu’s Speya wiri (Spair Wheel), Corruption by Mapfumo and many other musical pieces is what we grew up listening to.

In gospel circles, the late Jordan Chataika and Baba Mechanic Manyeruke ruled the roost.

On the international scene, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh among many others were our idols.

My favourite artiste Buju Banton came onto the scene in the early 1990s but rose to prominence in 1992 with “Mr Mention” which became the best-selling album in Jamaican history upon its release.

Listening to probably the same genres now, I get a feeling that we have retrogressed musically.

Musicians of yesteryear had a secret which I am sure they did not successfully pass on to the current crop. Or they tried to pass it on, but the younger generation was busy focusing on fame and its trappings more than the teachings that build a successful career.

The quality of our music has retrogressed in four aspects, maturity, message, flow and depth.

Maturity

A song should mature like wine. This process does not happen after the song has been released but at the stage of writing.

Writing a song is not a one-day “event”. It must be a process. Musicians should realise that “songs” are the products they offer to the market.

A product goes through a process of conceptualisation and development. So should a song if it is to transcend generations.

Most of the music being released these days does not last the distance. The market is being fed with “perishable” offerings. One season wonders. The maturity of the song should happen at the time of writing and not just in the studio.

It is imperative for musicians to take time to develop their songs so that they carry message.

Message

The market is flooded with noise disguised as music. I prefer to call it noise because most of the offerings are void of message. What the musician is communicating remains a mystery until the song is finished! This happens across all genres. Some musicians tend to think that confusing the audience is creativity.

Listening to Chimbetu’s Nyuchi Yegonera; you cannot but discover that the Dendera hit singer offers life-changing wisdom in a few verses.

We are told of someone who was stung by bees because he approached the beehive.

The wisdom behind the story is that in life we all should consult. You should not plunge into danger when there are people who have had similar experiences before you. No one survives in isolation. In about nine minutes Chimbetu passes on priceless wisdom.

I shall not compare Chopper’s Nyuchi yeGonera and his son Sulu’s Nyuchi.

Flow

We are faced with songs with jumbled up verses. There is no flow. One statement makes sense the next is confusing. The reason for this is usually that some musicians rush to the studio with incomplete semi products that are not mature. There is no flow in the message and meaning is lost.

If the message in the song is well thought-out, meaning becomes evident. The problem we have is that the message is not well thought-out leading to the recording of meaningless songs. In the same way nobody buys substandard bread or a pair of shoes, music that is devoid of meaning does not sell.

Depth

We often get shallow ideas made into songs and for three or so minutes the artist is repeating the same two or three paragraphs.

This usually happens with gospel artists. We have one artist who distorted the meaning of the scriptures hiding behind “creativity”. The songs show a clear lack of understanding of the Bible.

Creativity does not mean mutilating fact. You can be creative but still within the confines of fact.

Research will help artists to develop their products. Some artists think reading, research and personal development is for their managers and other professions. Personal development of an artist will eventually filter through his products.