Staff Writer
The official video of the song NZIZI co-written by Sarungano and Zimbabwean acclaimed poet Chirikure Chirikure is out.
Nzizi was recorded under Ilima Records – the new record label established by Nhimbe Trust’s Josh Nyapimbi – which sponsored the recording of the song in 2023 and produced by Prosper Mashipe.
Nzizi rose to No 7 in the Top 20 charts of Zimbabwe’s Classic 263 radio station on 13 January 2024.
Sarungano real name Innocent Kufakunesu is a fast-rising young musician (guitar and mbira) and composer, who leads the band The Story Tellers.
He is a product of the Pakare Paye Arts Centre in Norton, nurtured and groomed by the late Dr Oliver Mtukudzi.
In the more recent past, as he says: “We have been working with Josh Nyapimbi for a long time now, at Nyanga Arts Festival produced by Nhimbe Trust, and they have been sponsoring some of our projects.”
After excellent performances by Sarungano and The Story Tellers band at the Nyanga Arts Festivals in 2022 and 2023, Ilima Records executive producer Josh Nyapimbi was prompted to link him up around a given theme with Chirikure Chirikure, whose words have reached the world in many publications over the years, and even by a massive airport display in Europe some years ago.
Nyapimbi felt that their music and writing resonated with the mission of Ilima Records, and more specifically that they have both worked with the late Zimbabean legend Dr Oliver Mtukudzi, who is among fine examples of the kind of music that Ilima Records desires to promote.
Nyapimbi said “We felt that working with Sarungano and Chirikure, who also penned some of Tuku’s lyrics, is one way of keeping his legacy alive, and also inspire new innovations around it –now and in the future.”
Chirikure Chirikure said: “It was a great honour to be invited by Ilima Records to contribute to this project. They gave me a theme and the freedom to interpret it in any way I felt best, and this is what we came up with. I think collaborations of this kind should be encouraged as it enriches our music, our arts as a country. It is also interesting to see how Sarungano interpreted the lyrics, he captured everything very well. So with the theme from Ilima Records, my lyrics, and Sarungano’s musical interpretation, it was a successful collaboration between the production house, the lyricist and the musician.”
Nzizi talks about understanding the seasons of the year, the way seasons move and change. “When you see the river flowing, don’t get carried away relaxing and enjoying, forgetting that there will be a season when it will dry. Even when it dries, there will be other deeper rivers which run longer through the year, but if they run dry life gets hard.
“Then there will be a season when the rivers will flood with the rains again, and you should be careful not to be drowned in them. The hook Fasha Wanyura means the floods could drown you. So in life we should study the environment in whatever move we decide to make, and we have to respect nature and the environment. You can also lift it to a social interpretation, whereby you must be aware of what’s happening around you because if you are not careful and watchful, you could be drowned. We leave it to the listener to interpret the song the way it hits them,” said Chirikure.
The official video of Nzizi, shot by Studio Art Pictures Africa among the misty mountains and rivers of Bvumba in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, also promotes the highlands as a film location destination of choice.
The video can be found on YouTube along with a collection of singles by Sarungano across all digital platforms. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm_jML7qg4U&ab_channel=Sarungano
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