The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mbewe, Sunday Life Correspondent
MANY of the music legends in the country have passed on, their music still lives but up to today they have not been given the much recognition that they deserve. Some of Bulawayo artistes who are legends in the making, have sat down with other artistes and resolved that it is their duty to honour late and living legends in the region of Matabeleland.
Tipped to be big like the recently held shows in South Africa by Casper Nyovest, Bulawayo artistes are hoping to fill up the White City Stadium in Pelandaba. The show will be held on 26 November this year. The organiser of the event, Nkue Nkala aka Khuliyo said they are hoping to have the stadium packed with people to celebrate the lives of music legends to come out from the region of Matabeleland.
“We hope that people will come in numbers on that day. This will also be a way of proving how popular local music is and if we have a lot of followers in the region,” he said.
Nkue said the show was an idea shared by two music legends in the making; Nkululeko Dube of Iyasa and Jeys Marabini with other artistes. He said the two artistes pushed for the idea and now their dream of celebrating fellow musicians has become a reality.
“After sitting down with these two we saw it fit to have a show that will take us down memory lane and to the current music being done by some of these legends. People like Solomon Skuza, Fanyana Dube among others have not been honoured for the work they have done yet people still get down to their music,” he said.
He said after realising that some of the musicians who have retired do not have anything to take home, the shows will come in handy as they will be given a certain percentage that will help them. The money generated from the show besides helping the chosen legend, it will be used to pay artistes performing on that day.
“The percentages given to the chosen legend will be more like a retirement package from us fellow artistes even if it won’t be much, it will go a long way in filling some monetary gaps,” he said.
51 artistes from different music genres are billed to perform on that day. These include IYasa, Simunye Simunye, Clemence Magwaza, Sandra Ndebele, Zinja Ziyamluma from South Africa, Black Umfolosi, Umdumo WeSizwe, Khuliyo, Shirati among others. The show will begin at 2pm till 6am the next day.
“We are bringing in artistes from different genres so that no one is left out. We want to make sure that everyone is satisfied and gets down to their favourite music without feeling left out,” said Nkue.
He said preparations for the show are underway and are still looking for partners. Admission to the show will be $2 for adults and $1 for children.
“We are not asking people to part with too much money but just a little fee. Our aim is to have a lot of people coming in to spend the day with us and celebrating our music heroes,” he said.
@rumbie_mbewe
