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Innocent Shumbahuru

Tawanda Marwizi

Unheralded gospel singer Innocent Shumbahuru who has been mistaken for Blessing Shumba has finally struck the right chord following the release of his fifth album titled “Natsirai Mwari”.The album has found favour with gospel fans, who have since described it as “refreshing”

“I have five albums to my name that preaches the word of God. My wish is to have many of these albums telling people how to please our creator,” said Shumbahuru.

The six-track album has songs “Mudanga Rembongoro”, “Ndibhabhatidzei,” “Denga Hamupinde,” “Rwendo Urwu”, “Ndinotenda” and “Ndadzoka “.

On the album he engaged the services of producer Gibson Makumbe.He is optimistic that the album will make an impact on local music scene.

“Since I recorded my first album the responses were lukewarm, but last year our album “Mufudzi Akanaka” did well on the local market. It encouraged me to keep on working hard,” he said.

Shumbahuru last year assembled a live band and they have been performing in different parts of the country.

“I have a live band and we have been performing for some time now. I am happy that whenever we perform people appreciate,” he said.

He is happy that people have accepted him, adding that he was not a copycat.

“At first people thought I was Blessing Shumba but now they are accepting me as Shumbahuru. We all sing gospel music aiming to uphold Christianity values,” he said.

Shumbahuru’s first album “Maropafadzo” was recorded in 2006 but it did not make an impact and he recorded albums “Kudzaishe” and ‘Garai Munashe”.

“By then this type of gospel was not yet popular but I am glad God has managed to give us the light. The response of the two albums did not let me down and we recoded another one last year,” he said.

It was his fourth album “Mufudzi Akanaka” that got a fair response from gospel lovers.