“It was a tough time for me (adapting from soldier to celebrity) but thanks to my upbringing (Sulu’s early life involved r e g u l a r l y shuttling from a small town to the family farm), I was toughened up and could hold out in the face of adversity. “Also, coming from a multi-cultural home (Sulu was born and bred in Zimbabwe though his father is of Tanzanian origin while his mother hails from Mozambique), I learnt important principles from the various cultures that I was exposed to and those principles still guide me in my day to day life and in the face of controversy.” Sulu and his sister Zaiwe Chimbetu sharing the Still riding stage at the Miss Universities beauty pangeant. high on the wave Courtesy of Memory Gurupira of the instant collaboration with a local urban success of his latest offering grooves artist. I cannot divulge Syllabus, which, apart from the much in at the moment but I can song Sean Timba, contains songs guarantee that the single will be laced with social commentary; out before the end of this first Sulu is currently working on quarter.” a DVD version of the album After the success story that Syllabus. has been his four albums to date, “Already I have done a video namely, Reverse Deal (2009), Nonof the song Sean Timba with Jah stop (2010), Ndomusiya Nani and Prayzah, who I believe has an the headline making Syllabus outstanding musical talent but (2012) which is currently hot what I want to promise my fans is property, Zimbabwe just can’t that the DVD album for Syllabus wait for the next production from will be coming out soon,” he told the soldier-turned musician who The Parade. believes he would have eventually “In the meantime, handisi become a doctor i f he had not kumira (I am not stopping) and taken up music full-time. TP am currently working on a
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Sean Timba! It’s all been blown
I
out of context
Feature
t’s not so long ago that “Chopper” and “Heya-heya” used to be the key phrase associated with Dendera artist Suluman Chimbetu. But now, there is a new game in town, the somewhat curious moniker “Sean Timba.” For some, it is the title of one of Sulu’s songs from his latest eight-track album Syllabus that hit the streets late last year. But for those that keenly follow the 30-year old musician, revellers in particular, it has become the title by which they recognise Sulu. Such is the popularity of the song. Despite being criticised in some quarters as a proviolence song that many believe should have got the young musician charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), due to its controversial and aggressive lyrics that advocate for blatant violence, the song has quickly become a crowd favourite. In his most recent shows, Sulu’s merry band of followers immediately cried out for another taste of “Sean Timba” the moment he walked onto the stage. It is that huge! Yes, the song seemingly advocates violence, and yes, Sulu makes no apologies about it. In the hair-raising part of the song, Sulu sings “Kana munhu anetsa varume batai munhu...mubate nepapa, mumurove ndari, kuponda musoro, musote munhu (if someone has become a nuisance, you should seize him/ her, floor them, and batter them on the head). But it has all been blown out of context, according to Sulu. “I was not advocating violence (when I did Sean Timba). All I was trying to do was attack piracy because it has killed us as musicians,” he told The Parade. “As an artist, you are busy trying to make music then Sean Timba anongouya otora otengesa, oita mari nayo and gets away with it (someone out there just takes your music, copies it and sells it, making lots of money at your expense). He just walks away scot-free. “For me, that is the most disappointing thing about our music industry. It’s not easy to come up with good music, but when you have people pirating your music willy-nilly, it really hurts. That is why I did that song because piracy is destroying us and even though there are laws against the practice, nothing is being done about it.” TP February 2013 Page 9