Welcome
back mate!

Everyone
listens to music. Some listen to the silence in their rooms and call
that peaceful music, some listen to hard rock and find solace in it,
and some call everything that makes a sound noise.

Well
today I’m sharing what type of music we Zimbabweans listen to.

Before we get started, lets learn a few new Shona words:

Mbira
– [African]Thumb
Piano with tiny metal keys, and the keys are played using both of
your thumbs.

Hosho – This is a dried pumpkin shell with a handle, and seeds in the shell. It is the African version of a rattle.

So
what type of music do we listen to in Zimbabwe?

There
is Traditional music, Museve (a type of music that I cannot explain –
you need to hear it for yourself to understand it), Sungura (I also
failed to find an English translation for this), Gospel, Dancehall,
Pop, RnB, House, Jazz, Electrodance Music (EDM), Classical Music, and
Rock. There are many more genres but these are the genres I have
decided to talk about today.

Now
let’s get into each category and see who listens to what

Traditional
Music

This
music mainly uses traditional instruments such as drums, a Hosho, or
a Mbira. A Mbira is an African thumb piano This music sounds quite
good and I do find it really nice and relaxing to listen to. It is
usually appealing to those of the older generations (our parents, and
grandparents)

Museve
& Sungura Music

This
music is mainly played by people who are old enough to be my parents
and my grandparents. It is also played in most beer-halls (A
beer-hall is just incomplete without the Museve & Sungura Music).
I am yet to see a young person who (openly admits that he/she)
listens to this type of music.

Gospel
Music

Zimbabweans
are highly religious people, and as a result most of them listen to
gospel. Every Sunday, one gets to hear the latest gospel songs from
the neighbourhood as virtually everyone’s playlist will have the
hottest gospel hits. I did note that the group Hillsong is very
popular amongst Zimbabweans. Out of all of the people I have talked
to about gospel music in my life, only one admitted that he never
listens to Hillsong. This was quite shocking to me. All people of all
generations listen to gospel music. This is perfect music for
weddings, and church gatherings. It can also be played on the bus, in
a car, etc.

Dancehall
Music

We
have our own version of Dancehall that we call Zimdancehall. I find
it really unpleasant to listen to. This music is quite popular
amongst the youths, and Kombis love playing music from this genre.

Pop
& RnB

This
music is for the youth and those of older generations. I am not
really a fan of it so I don’t really know where it is played. Time
to ask around!

House
Music

This
is really popular music amongst the youth, and those of the older
generations. I find it rather great to listen to, especially when the
song has a lot of bass. This is ideal for parties, braais, etc.

Jazz
Music

This
is popular music amongst all generations. It is quite ideal for
private parties, and is a popular choice of music in good restaurants
and clubs.

Electrodance
Music (EDM), Classical Music, and Rock

Not
very many people that I know of listen to these genres. I love them
all, but I am yet to meet a sizeable number of people who listen to
these genres. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to play this at a public
gathering, unless if you want to chase away the people there and load
good music later on.

It is important to note that bass is very important to us Zimbabweans. A song with no bass is like food without salt.

Where
do we buy our music?

Well,
we get it online, we buy it from music shops here in the country, and
we get it from the street (there are very many people who sell music
in the streets).

How
can I tell that the music album I want to buy is good?

There
are three tests:

• Cardboard Box Test: Get into town, and note how many of the music vendors have that album. If your album is hard to find then it is probably bad.
• Kombi Test: Travel to town. Take your earphones out and have a long walk around the CBD. Go back home. Write down the number of kombis that you heard playing a song from the album you want to purchase. If the number is less than 3 then it is a bad album.
• Radio stations test: Tune in to the local radio stations and listen to them for a day. If your song doesn’t get any airplay, then you must probably use your money for something else

*I have assumed that you live in Harare, and it is a new album that has
been recently released.

How
can I become an artist in Zimbabwe?

Well that is very simple. All that one needs to do is to get a laptop and
a good microphone. Make a good instrumental with bass. Sing about
something that is meaningless, funny or taboo and PRESTO! You are an
artist. Now this doesn’t mean that all artists here sing bad music
– but most do.

Dowe stream music in Zimbabwe?

Wellof course. People use Spotify, Deezer, Soundcloud, and many others.
YouTube Music doesn’t work in this country though.

And that is where today’s story ends. Come back next week and I will
have another good article just for YOU!

Liked this article? Share it with your friends, and leave a comment below.

Didn’t like the article? Leave a comment below telling me why.

Don’t be shy to say Hi!