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| author/source:Zimbabwean |
| published:Fri 9-Sep-2005 |
| posted on this site:Fri 9-Sep-2005 |
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| Article Type : News |
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| "Rap is not Zimbabwean and so it is not true music” |
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By our Arts correspondent
London - I am not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I do not think it was for Zimbabwe’s greatest musician to entertain me when I snuck backstage at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire during the break of his first UK gig this summer. I found him in the dressing room, relaxing on a leather couch with his band members. Though he had just come off stage he seemed entirely relaxed, and gave me his undivided attention. He even gave me his number so I could give him a call to arrange an interview before he flew back to the States. And so I went down to the Holiday Inn in North Greenwich and found him watching Sky Sports in his room. He had drawn the curtains to keep out the sweltering heat and he was just resting on the bed in t-shirt and jeans, with his black and white knitted cap on his head. “I’ve been in the States for five years now and I haven’t been back to Zimbabwe for two years”, he tells me, “but I’ll be going back. That’s were I want to live and I still have my family and friends there. My brothers and kids are in the States with me, because it’s impossible to live in Zimbabwe right now, but we’ll all be going back as soon as there is change.”
Mapfumo left home because he no longer felt safe there. Since the liberation struggle he has been the voice of resistance through his music. When he realised that things had not changed after independence – that wealth had simply shifted from one small group to another – he raised his voice of protest again. Though there were no specific threats against him, he is confident that he would disappear as soon as he returned. I wonder whether he feels excluded from Zimbabwean society. How can his voice be heard if his music is unavailable in stores and it is banned on the radio? “I am dealing with bigger issues these days. People are struggling around the world, in countries like China and Iraq.” He does not go so far as admit that the government has been highly successful in boxing him out of Zimbabwean society. But he does accept, “The people in the rural areas, they are the ones who need to hear me, but they can’t.” And there is nothing he can do about that.
Life in the US is fairly good, though he misses home of course. “Lot’s of people come to my gigs. It’s okay.” What about the fact that at home he was at the top and now he is just one of many? Does that bother him? Does he ever find he loses his voice in the World Music pigeonhole? “Yes, it’s true not as many people know me there, but I still have my followers who come to listen to my music.” As for World Music, “I can’t expect people in the States to know everything about African music. There is too much of it, so that’s why it’s all World Music. But what I don’t understand is that my brothers the African Americans don’t come to listen to my music. They should know where their roots are and that my music is for them too. Instead, there is kind of superiority thing. They think they are better than Africans.”This culture shock clearly disturbs Mapfumo. It also applies to music trends in Zimbabwe. He raises his voice to emphasise how important it is for Africans to maintain their identity. “I don’t want to hear Zimbabweans doing hip-hop. That is not their culture. They should be following in my footsteps or those of Oliver Mtukudzi or Simon Chimbetu, who are good traditional musicians. Rap is not Zimbabwean and so it is not true music.”
I try to negotiate that there may be some benefit in cultural interchange, but he is resolved in his purism. This, even though he accepts that African music forms the basis of popular Western music. However, his appeal to the younger generation is evident from the youthful crowd at the Empire concert. He must have been in 15 different phone camera visors at any one time, the bearers singing along with some of his classics. And with his renewed political intonations, he still strikes a strong chord across the board. What will it take for you to go back home? “It depends. If a Zanu PF (wo)man takes over, they may just be the same as before and I may not be welcome there. But I’ll go back to see my mother, who’s still alive, as soon as I can.”
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