I’m down but not out: Tangwena

at Mereki to one’s of Gramma Records’ all time leading sellers believes he is still very much in the game.
He’s lost a bit of weight and is obviously without his usual “flashy” clothes or fancy hairstyles.
“Of course, I used to make sure I look good on the music videos that was all for TV,” he said.
Born in Honde Valley in 1969 near the Mozambican border, Tangwena will be turning 42 this year.
Tangwena took up music after being inspired by the likes of the late Leonard Dembo, late Simon Chimbetu and Oliver Mtukudzi.
Before he started out a career in music, Tangwena was a music dealer running several flea markets and hence his love for singing grew.
It was only in 2000 that he decided to try out music and he came with a bang!
He released the album “Pamuchato Wamukoma” that features the scorcher “Pamuchato”.
The video of the song was packed with raunchy dances courtesy of rhumba queens.
The choreography was simply out of the ordinary and in no time Tangwena was on everyone’s lips.
The following year, another scorcher from Tangwena titled “Love Songs” put him in the spotlight as it featured the hit “Ndiyani”.
As a tribute to his neighbourhood, Tangwena released the album “PaMereki”, the place that nurtured him and later became his haunt.
“It’s a convenient place and people now know that’s one of the places to find me so I get invites to perform from there and I get inspiration for my songs from there too,” he once said.
But as demand for his music grew, Tangwena backed by his Star Light Musica fused rhumba beats with sungura.
Some of his standout videos include “PaChristmas” and “Siyana Newangu” that captivated many during his live shows.
“PaChristmas” simply passed as one of Hollywood’s Hype Williams as it features scenes where Tangwena is flanked by models aboard an Air Zimbabwe plane, sunset cruises in Kariba and what have you.
Although he travelled across the breath and length of Zimbabwe, Tangwena says he was yet to achieve all the pinnacles that he had set for himself and to date he’s not giving up on chasing the dollar!
He also has a lot of gripes when it comes to promoters and record companies, a team he dislikes intensely.
Tangwena thinks the local music industry was blighted with “sharks”, chief among them recording companies and show promoters.
“As I speak to you, I can safely say that we don’t have serious music promoters. What we have are business people trying to make quick bucks by promoting shows not music.
“For instance, when you talk about music promotion it means that you have to sign a contract for at least more than a year with an artiste. You would need to cover for his travel, accommodation and bookings for shows.
“But if you look at how the local promoters are doing it now you will be surprised to see that none of them cover for all these expenses that I’ve mentioned,” said the pint sized ndombolo dancer.
On the issue of record companies, Tangwena said they were worst enemies of the industry.
“You see I made top selling records but if you ask what happened with the proceeds from the sale of my cassettes and videos, I don’t think there is much to show for all that fame.
“I remember spending quite a fortune on video shoots but then I never recovered whatever the amount I would have used in shooting the DVD album.
“So you see, the record companies are at fault,” he said.
The issue of contracts with record companies did not affect yesteryear stars like Tangwena but a good number of musicians were affected whether directly or indirectly.
This, according to Tangwena has seen more musicians establishing their own recording studios as the few studios that were operating were exploiting the musicians.
But his only wish was to have a “serious” promoter like Esau Mupfumi, whom he said helped a lot in resuscitating Tongai Moyo’s seemingly waning music career.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey