The Sunday News
Melinda Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
THE coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted many artistes whose careers came to halt with earnings plummeting as venues got shut down.
Despite all this some still soldier on, preferring to give people hope that the sun will shine once again. This is true in the case of Pervaton Karipache known as Muffia Kings, who used the prevailing situation to pen a track that chronicles the effect of Covid-19 on artistes’ livelihood.
Muffia King is a Zimbabwea-born and bred singer, songwriter, producer and radio Presenter at Breeze FM 91.2 in Victoria Falls. He started with RnB in 2006 then later on in 2010 he transitioned to Zim-Dancehall, Afro Pop and Reggae. The 29-year-old has dropped a track entitled, “Takangomirira”, online on YouTube on Tuesday.
“Due to Covid-19 my team and I have resorted to online production. This is because there is no source of income. When things were normal I used to generate a lot of income through live performance at clubs and bars, moving around the country and outside the country,” he said.
His manager, Tariro Murwira said online production has been a challenge for them since it meant they have no source of income, with the shutting down of clubs and bars worsening the situation.
“Takangomirira the song means, ‘we are still waiting,’ through the title of the song we are saying we are still waiting for Covid-19 to end. As artistes, we live through art and there is no art online.
“As artistes we generate income through entertaining our listeners and fans which has been engulfed by the pandemic by way of banning gatherings, closing clubs and bars it has been an obstacle to the entertainment industry with has been because of Covid-19,” she said.
Despite being relatively unknown, Muffia is a seasoned campaigner, as he started releasing RnB songs in 2006 and before he transitioned to ZimDanceHall, Reggae and Afro-pop in 2008. He also has had the opportunity to perform with renowned artistes including Oliver Mtukudzi, Jah Prayzah, Winky D, Freeman, Seh Calaz, Shinsoman, Lady Squanda, Killer T, Soul Jah Luv, Peter Moyo, Sulumani Chimbetu and many more. He has also performed in most of Zimbabwe’s National events, conferences and galas.
Taking advantage of the digital age, the artiste has built a digital footprint by being active on various social media platforms. His music is available on Sound Cloud, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play Music,
Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Audio Mack, and Tidal. His first album was “Vic Falls Muffia” with 12 tracks, followed by “Good over Evil” then “Tazvivhura.” Besides his albums, Muffia King has lots of single compilations, collaborations and has also been participating in most of ZimDancehall Riddims.
His latest album is a seven-track album titled Super Story. The reggae conscious album has the following songs, the title track called Super Story, Ruva Rangu, Mumoyo Mangu, Rudo, Ndafunga Babe, Shungurudza Feat Muffia Queen and Ndinokupei Feat Ras Caleb.
Two days before launching his new album, there was another lockdown but despite the setback, he said he looks forward to launching his new album on 28 August virtually.
