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Talent Bope
Arts Reporter
Gwanda-based musician and businessman Thembinkosi Ndlovu known in music circles as ‘‘Master Zhoe’’ is on a drive to take his music to every corner of Zimbabwe and has lined up various productions to achieve the goal.

Master Zhoe, who is known for various charity and talent programmes in his Gwanda base, will be releasing a new song and video titled “Huya”.

Speaking to Herald Arts, Master Zhoe said the new single ‘‘Huya’’ will coincide with his birthday on July 1.

“The single ‘Huya’ will be released in celebration of my birthday on July 1,” he said.

“It’s a beautiful song designed to cater for all age groups and genre lovers.

“We are done with the audio production of the song, but we had to put it on hold since the video editing is underway. We hope to have everything ready come July 1.”

The love-themed single is a softsing-along designed to promote love and celebrate its beauty, and Master Zhoe said they were working on a beautiful video to accompany it.

“Huya is a master piece which will build on other quality productions like ‘Gwenyambira’ which I recorded with Madzibaba Nicholas Zakaria,” he said.

“I am high on confidence and I am loving the feedback we are getting from all corners of Zimbabwe. Our manager is based in Harare and that has helped us penetrate the market.”

The tribal house musician who has been given the moniker ‘‘‘Chibaba Chembinga’’ by his legion of fans, is also doing a lot to promote local arts and recently held a dance promotion to celebrate local talent in his home area.

“I am a full-time businessman with interests in mining, but I am really committed to the music industry. I am also investing in talent development, including the recently-held dance competition,” said Master Zhoe.

“The competition ran from the beginning of May and various dancers posted their videos on social media and tagged us, but some sent them through Whatsapp. Celebrated choreographer and musician Mzoe7 was our judge and we gave out prizes to three winners.”

The dance competition came with prize money and Master Zhoe said he was happy to be giving back to his community.

The first prize was R1 000, the second R600 and while the third was R400.

“The winners will be featured in our video for the song ‘Makoti’ as a way to promote their talent,” he said.

Master Zhoe’s manager, Morateoa Sidange, said the competition was part of their talent development and corporate social investment programme.

“The dance competition is part of our talent development investment as we seek to herald and promote the hidden gems in the arts sector,” she said.

“As Master Zhoe music, our thrust is to empower as we rise. We have recorded a lot of positives in my this journey and there is growing interest in our work, but we also want as much local talent as possible to get national recognition.

“The possibilities are too many for the local arts sector, but we need unity of purpose. Collaboration is the way to go and this explains why we have produced music with some of the big names in the music industry like the Senior Lecturer, Madzibaba Nicholas Zakaria.”

Sidange said there will be more such programmes aimed at developing talent while enhancing their music reach.

“The goal is to have every Zimbabwean enjoying our music while inspiring more young talent to rise,” she said.