The Sunday News
Peter Matika Senior Leisure Reporter
SOMETIMES the production of music can move at a pace too swift for even the most devoted fan to keep up with. It is so fast that albums are released at breakneck speed, with careers being developed and broken with the swipe of a pen. In the middle of all the madness, actual music, which borders between outstanding and awful, is being made.
An up-and-coming artiste Vincent Pikamu, popularly known as Stetus Pike, who comes from one of Bulawayo’s oldest suburbs — Njube — recently announced his presence to the world with two tracks already making waves on radio.
In an interview, Pike a fashion and design student at a local college spoke of his entrance into the industry, his relevance and where he sees himself in the future.
“I ventured into the music industry in 2012. I used to be in a group called Less Money, which was inspired by American stable Cash Money. I was in the same group with Trokho from Jubenics, which made headlines not so long ago. The group split up in 2013 and two of us went on to form the group Cheez Boyz. We mostly did underground music and were mostly into hip-hop,” he said.
Pike said the group split after a while because of various reasons, with the main one being choice of music.
“I decided to go solo the same year. I wanted to be serious in music and be regarded as a genuine artiste. The other guy I was with was mostly into hip-hop and I felt that the genre lacks a following and market in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo to be precise,” he said.
With two tracks, namely Chiwewe and Cheez Boy already topping the charts on radio — Pike said he expected to release his debut album in April this year.
“My album will be titled Chiwewe; a dance album will be released in April, as I expect some of the tracks to be hits in December,” he said.
The 24-year-old artiste said he was inspired by Nigerian Afro-pop musician Davito, who featured on South Africa’s Mafikizolo’s hit tracks Tchelete.
“Generally the type of music I sing appeals to the youth and young adults. You can say it’s a fusion of old and contemporary music,” he said.
He is scheduled to release a video — Bantu Woman — which was produced by Njube-based producer Jimmy Dube warmly known as J Kidd.
“The video was done by local guys, J Kidd produced it, while David Mire filmed it,” he added.
