I collaborated with
Chabvondoka and Tariro
Negitare who are all great
musicians. The workshops that I
did together with Tariro were
also good fun. I always love to
help inspire young artists face to
face.
“Performing at SHOKO
was one of my highlights
this year,….”
GM.: What did you learn from
the whole Shoko Festival that
you could take back to
Tanzania?
“My calling was to break
down racial barriers and
to give the negative
meaning of Mzungu a
new meaning or at least
another meaning.”
especially the youth. But I always
fuse some elements from the past
into my music. We all share this
past, which is what makes it
relevant. I also write
predominantly conscious music,
whether its about love or politics,
it is conscious and relative to
what is happening around me.
GM.: We understand that this
was your first time in
Zimbabwe. Please share with
us your thoughts on
Zimbabwe.
MK: Wow.... Zimbabwe was an
amazing experience for me. It
was my first time to perform in
Zimbabwe, but actually, I came
there to visit a couple of times
while I lived in Zambia (86-90)
as a child. I was always
impressed
70
about how developed
Zimbabwe was back then,
compared to Zambia. Those
days we had absolutely nothing!
It seems that today Zimbabwe
has a bad name and people
abroad think it is still unstable.
But I found it to be peaceful and
the people I met to be easy going
and very friendly. I have
definitely already spread this
"news" with the people I have
met since my visit.
GM.: You performed at Shoko
Festival 2013, as well as shared
your knowledge on song
writing in a workshop. What
was your experience like?
MK: Performing at SHOKO was
one of my highlights this year,
and trust me I have been busy,
and it is competing with a lot of
other great events this year. But
there was something special
about Shoko and the audience.
People really took time to listen
and to understand my music
and I really respect that.
MK: I learnt a very good
approach to holding a festival. I
think what the Shoko Festival
organisers are doing is very
admirable and important. I really
found that people were
supportive and that they were
doing a great job. It is an
important community based
initiative, at the same time as
being professional and also
providing very entertaining acts.
I don´t think that anyone can
complain about the line up. I
mean, they programmed that
crazy murungu.... joke aside,
there was a lot of great music
that I personally really enjoyed
watching. I am also personally
involved in managing and
promoting events in Tanzania,
so there are definitely a lot of
ideas that I got from Shoko that I
will try to incorporate into them.
GM.: How well was your
music received at Shoko
Festival and by Zimbabweans
at large especially after your
radio interview?