The Sunday News
Raisedon Baya
THIS past month most people have gotten to know about Seagirl. The young musician has been in the papers and on social media pages as the girl Bulawayo fans keep booing on stage. This is not a good tag for a musician with the kind of talent and ambition Seagirl has. I personally think that something really big has gone wrong with our media. Here is a young talented girl. She has been in the arts for donkey years, surviving where many have given up and left for good. She has appeared in some remarkable theatre productions. She has won top prize in one of Zimbabwe’s premier talent search project, Starbrite, and has gone on to win several awards here in Bulawayo and nationally with StarFM awards. And yet we only get to write about her extensively because she has been booed on stage!
I think this speaks volumes about our media. Perhaps it has become more about selling newspapers or maybe competing with social media for attention. Social media has no ethics, and no bigger vision. Most people post stuff on Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram to get likes and retweets, nothing more. And nothing gets more likes and retweets than hate, trolls, and simply negative news. But this should be different with mainstream media. There is much we expect as the arts sector from mainstream media. The least being responsible journalism.
Here is a young woman. She has talent. Those who have taken time to listen to her songs and seen her perform will testify to that. The several awards she has won also testify to that. Anyone in the arts worth their salt will know that the boos and jeers she is getting has nothing to do with her talent. It is more to do with the shows she has been billed to perform. Twice she has been billed to perform either before Winky D or Jah Prayzah and that alone tells you there is something wrong, not with her, but with programming of the events. It is obvious that 98 percent of the people who were in those shows were not there for Seagirl. Most of them had never heard her songs or her name. Most were drunk and impatient. They were there to sing along and dance to Winky D and Jah Prayzah. This is the kind of audience that will see an up-and-coming artiste as more of a disturbance or a delay to their programme or entertainment. There booing and jeers had nothing to do with the quality of Seagirl’s music or stage performance. The audience was simply saying they were not there for her.
I personally see her booing and jeering the same way I see people’s reactions to adverts on television when they are watching a good movie or programme. When an advert comes on screen many people scream expletives and curse. It doesn’t matter how good the advert is or what it is about, once it jumps on screen it gets the screaming and cursing. Why? Because the people are not there for an advert. They are there for the film or programme. Who then is to blame for the booing of the young musician?
The blame starts with promoters and event organisers and how they slot these young artistes. They must have a plan and know why they have mixed big stars like Wink D and up-and-coming musician like Sear girl. Are these competing? Or are promoters trying to groom and grow young talent by making it rub shoulders with the stars. If its grooming then there is seriously need to even have the young musician meet and even perform a song with the stars. Next in line are the artistes themselves. We need to know our target audiences. Our music is not for everyone. For example any jazz musician, no matter how good, will never walk into a Jam Pariah or Winky D show and perform for ten minutes without getting a serious reaction from the crowds. Jam Pariah and Wink D crowds are there to dance, to sweat with joy. They are not there to appreciate good music. So artistes must learn to choose their gigs carefully. The media as I have said has a role to play — not in destroying young careers but building them. How do they choose what to write? And who are they writing for? Lastly, Bulawayo crowds need to learn to appreciate their own, even if it’s for just twenty minutes. That 10 or even five minutes of being appreciated may change an artiste’s life. I am not saying Bulawayo crowds should just love anything from Bulawayo. No. I’m saying they should also know they can build or kill an artiste’s career. They need to play their role responsibly.
Final word on this. Novato Seagirl is a talented artiste. She has good music and a good stage act. Give her a chance. That’s all she needs. A chance to show everyone what she has.
