By Robert Zvidza
Just like the Country Boy used
to charm congregants and students alike with his singing prowess while growing
up in the grimy lands of Uzumba in Mashonaland East Province, week in and week
out fans from across the country continue to be drawn to his shows like the
moon draws the tides. His singing dexterity
and the energy his Third Generation Band put on display is just flawless.
The Country Boy, Mukudzei
Mukombe popularly known as Jah Prayzah’s graph seems to be rising with each
passing day and as he continues to grow as a musician the more professional he
is becoming. Recently, he opened an office in the luxuriant suburb of Belvedere
where his music business will be conducted from.
Apart from being a
professional entertainer par excellence, the lanky 27-year old crooner is an
adorable family man. He is married to beautiful Rufaro Chiworeso and blessed
with a young and bubbling baby girl Kayla.
Jah Prayzah recently opened
the doors to his Mabelreign home to this reporter and gave an insight to his al
life outside the music industry and as well as his career. His welcome radiates
the humility that lies in the Uzumba bred chanter.
“You are welcome guys,” he
says as he ushers us into his well-furnished living room whose decoration also
include numerous awards he has bagged so far in his music career.
The awards on display include
the four National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) he received early this year - The
Outstanding Male Musician, Outstanding Album, Outstanding Song and The People’s
Choice Award. Apart from these, he also has the Music Artist of the Year Award
which he was awarded by the Zim Online Radio, 2013 Peace Ambassador of the Year
Award by ZimRights, Victors Award for the song Gochi Gochi and the Ngoma Awards
by Jericho an advertising company for the best jingle on male circumcision by the
Population Services International (PSI). To add to that, he was also named the
Zimbabwe Defence Forces Cultural Ambassador.
Jah Prayzah’s mother Mrs
Shirely Savanhu also joins us in the spacious lounge for the interview as she
plays with little Kayla who blissfully shrills from time to time through our
interface with his dad. Maybe it’s another sign that she is a musician in the
making.
He quickly takes us through
his routine day.
During the week, the life of
Jah Prayzah is a simple one, working up like any other young man in the working
class, and after taking a bath and having breakfast; he leaves for the office
where he spends the day. Weekends are show days where sometimes they are double-booked– in the afternoon and during the night. At times they also attend to
corporate functions during the week. He is also a devout member of the United
Methodist Church and if not having a show he goes to the Budiriro Branch.
Something is also
fascinating about his connection with the band. Despite the fluidity of
their choreography, Jah Prayzah and the Third Generation Band no longer do
regular rehearsals.
“We only do rehearsals when
we are preparing for an event like album launch or a special function where we want
to display some new movements and dances. Like now the last time we rehearsed
was when we were preparing for the album launch,” he told this magazine, adding
that because of the number of their shows, there is no room for forgetting the
dance moves.
Despite his seemingly tight
schedule he has, Jah Prayzah says he creates enough time for his family.
“I always make sure I have
enough time for my family. Sometimes I delay going to the office just to be
with the family and I also make sure I am home early to be with them. I always
make sure that my music business does not disturb my family life and vice
versa,” he said.
The lanky artist is unique
in the way he runs his personal life. He neither smokes nor drinks; something
he says keeps him fit. He is also not obsessed with adding some biceps or
triceps by pumping iron at a city gym; he believes the stage work is the best
exercise he needs. Instead, he loves going for shooting practice at Cleveland
Rifle Range in Chikurubi.
“I am actually a very good
shooter and I have trained how to use an AK47 rifle and I always go there for
shooting practice when I am free. I also like playing darts here at home with
my young brothers if I am not at the office,” he told this publication, adding that,
keeping himself busy was the only way to escape the public eye and
controversies.
He also takes time to
explain about his journey in the music industry which was not a saunter in the
recreational park.
Having grown up in Uzumba,
his love for music blossomed while at school where he was groomed by his
geography teacher at Musanhi Secondary School, Mr. Mupa Musimbe, who he says was a great Mbira
player.
“That man could play mbira
and could play any type of music. He knew me as a student who could sing and I
knew him as a good Mbira player so I approached him so that he would teach me
how to play the instrument. I was in form two by then.
“He would play the Mbira and
I would sing and record the music that we played and put it on cassettes. That
is how I started,” he said adding that he came to Harare to look for
connections in the music industry since he was convinced music was his trade.
He reminiscences that
the first instrument was a set of Mbira which he used to record the album Sungano.
“I acquired them through
barter trade from my close friend Tichafa Mabika whom I had visited in
Highfields. It looked like they were neglected because they were covered by
soil. I had to offer my fashionable ‘flat base’ cap in exchange for the mbira.”
Since then he has perfected
his skill on the mbira and can also play keyboards, marimba and the acoustic
guitar.
He takes over the narration:
“I have perfected the mbira instrument. If you look at the type of Mbira that I
have, you will not find them anywhere else in Zimbabwe. I have added more keys
to them and can virtually play any sound that I want with them. I have also
perfected the art of playing them. I have also played an acoustic guitar on one
song Sei Mambo on my latest album
-Kumbumura Mhute - but I have not trusted playing it live on stage because I am
not yet perfect.”
His first days as a musician
were a trying time.
“I once had a one man band
but did not do it for a long time because I wanted my music to mature both in
words and live instruments. I had formed a band with people who were new in the
industry but had ambition. We did not know even how to control our sound. My
management did not know much about the industry. There are times we were labeled
too noisy. I also recall that I used to have problems with my voice after every
show because I would have strained it. But you get to learn new things through
other people who have been in the industry for long,” he reminisces.
He also talked about his
music compositions and what influenced his deep Shona and well-thought expressions.
He has much influence from
the way he grew up in Uzumba where his father – Mr. John Mukombe, then a
headmaster by profession, inculcated in him the culture of reading. His father
kept a suitcase full of Shona novels in his house, which he would read during
his free time.
Jah Prayzah takes over the
narration: “I must have read all the Shona novels that were in that suitcase.
Mention any Shona novel and I will tell you I read it. However, I recall
vividly a thick volume which I read then titled Pasipamire. The setting of the novel was purely traditional and the
language was very deep. So that must have developed my language.
“That is also coupled by the
style of rhyming that I like so much. I make sure when I rhyme, there is
meaning in the rhymes.”
Jah Prayzah does not keep a
songbook like he used to do as he strode into the music industry and composing
songs is not influenced by the need to produce an album but a continuous
process. Some of the hits that make up his current albums were composed long
back.
I composed the hit
Machembere in 2005 but only released it last year on album Tsviriyo. So my
compositions are mainly influenced by instruments. There are times that I play
mbira or the acoustic guitar and the moment that I start playing words just
come to me and I arrange from there. I composed the song, Soja Rinosvika Kure, during a show in Chivhu. The band was playing
this reggae bit and I just told them to continue playing and put words to the
instruments and just like that we had a song,” he said.
The Tsviriyo hitmaker has
five albums to his name – Rudo Nerunyararo, Sungano, Ngwarira Kuparara,
Tsviriyo and Kumbumura Mhute. He also has a sixth album which is a compilation of
his hit singles called Dura. He says he has not given his type of music a name
to identify it yet choosing simply to call it African Music. Currently, he is working on videos for his
current album and by the time of going to print, he was working on a video of
the song Soja Rinosvika Kure - a dedication
to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
With support from his wife
whom he describes as his number one fan, friends, his siblings and parents
coupled with his humbleness and level-headedness, truly Soja Rinosvika Kure.
