The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mbewe, Sunday Life Correspondent
AS young as they are they have a dream of being the next best thing in the industry. Driven by passion and inspiration from one of Africa’s best music DJs Black Coffee, the group Southern Djembe Natives is slowly but surely making a name for themselves in the City of Kings.
Southern Djembe Monks is an all male group consisting of five young energetic members; Le-Roy “The Native” Tshuma, Sabelo “Doxy” Ncube, Lancelot Kazandwe, Bonginkosi Mhlabi and Nigel “Gabs” Chinamasa.
Coming from different backgrounds, the group was then formed in church and later they spread their wings and now play at local night clubs like Horizon and Club Forty 40.
“In 2015 we registered for the Dream Star talent show and we made it to the second round. That was when we met two other members of the group.
From there we decided to form one group, that’s when Southern Djembe Monks was born,” said Tshuma.
He said their only challenge was little support from the local community.
“Local people are not really into local content and it makes it hard for artistes to prosper. The promoters seem to be interested in South African artistes yet we have so many good artistes in Bulawayo.
If promoters push for locals I assure you that we will have a good industry because people will begin to appreciate local music,” he said.
The group is bringing in a different kind of vibe in the musical scene in Bulawayo by infusing traditional and modern instruments into their live performances.
“We are bringing in different types of drums into our sets. In our next session we will be introducing the Tonga drums.
We will also have a new set of live keys and our main aim is to bring tribal music to life in Bulawayo,” he said.
Southern Djembe Natives has performed in numerous clubs in the city and have shared the stage with some of the country’s most celebrated artistes such as Jah Prayzah and Leonard Mapfumo.
@rumbie_mbewe
