Zimbabwean female musicians…crybabies or victims of circumstances?
What does Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Pink and Rihanna have in common besides being women? The common denominator here are the dollar signs.
They are among the highest paid musicians on the planet and I just mentioned a few among the many female artistes making the big bucks in the entertainment industry.
In the so-called ‘man’s world’, there are many women in music who have proven that they can compete at the highest level and even do it better than their male counterparts.
Coming back home, the situation is totally different as female musicians have found it a bit difficult to make a significant impact.
The Big Five
The Big FiveSome might argue that Vimbai Zimuto is always breaking the internet with nudes, or that Sandra Ndebele was a hit recently with some sexy social media posts, but that is not the impact I am talking about though.
I am yet to hear a lady’s name being mentioned in any ‘Big Five’ conversation and I have always struggled to understand if this is by some sort of design or what.
Is it that we do not have female musicians who are that gifted or it’s just that the space is discriminatory.
If I was to be asked who the biggest Zimbabwean artiste is right now, I will not hesitate to say Sha Sha. I mean, she has represented the country on one of the highest platforms in the world of entertainment, the BET awards, which simply means she is among the best on a global scale.
However, I will bet you my last dollar that if I was to throw out the same question at random local music fans, Sha Sha might not even make it in the top 10. The likes of Jah Prayzah, Winky D and Alick Macheso will be dominant in such a survey. I kid you not, I have tried it before.
Janet Manyowa has had some of the best concerts I have seen in the country. I am talking about next level, international standard, mind-blowing concerts. But if I was to put her among my top five live performers in Zimbabwe, I would just be asking for an old fashioned lynching.
A call for equality
Every now and then we have stories in the media were female artistes are calling for equality in the industry (these usually come out either on Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, or any other day along those lines).
Not only are they calling for equal opportunities, but there has also been talk of sexploitation.
Several women raised their voices at the recently held UNESCO ResiliArt debate which was organised by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ).
Zimbabwe Music Crossroads Director Melody Zambuko said governments should establish quota systems for women when providing assistance or opportunities for artistes as is the case in politics where a gender quota system allows for 30% of females to take up leadership positions.
“The unequal access to opportunities is quite clear. The working space needs to be levelled as women are the multi-taskers of our society. You will remember that long before Covid-19 women were marginalised in the workspace. Regardless of occupying the same position at work, the female officer earned less than their male counterparts,” said Zambuko.
Adding to that, Bulawayo based artist and businesswoman Patience Phiri said the Covid-19 period had extended the gap between male and female artistes.
“What we need as women, is for the government to invest in us. We want to say to the government please love us, please pay us, please give us safe platforms, and can we please be treated equally to your boy children that you love so dearly. If you invest in us, we will make you so proud,” said Phiri.
After listening to these sentiments, I was scratching my head trying to pinpoint if there was ever a time when government has been directly involved in supporting local artistes, both male and female. The only thing I could think of was probably those galas that used to be held back in the day.
If only I could tell them that they are barking at the wrong tree. The people they should probably be addressing are promoters.
What is it then about the local entertainment industry that makes it very difficult for women to level up and compete.
The talent is there in abundance. The likes of Tamy Moyo, Ammara Brown, Hope Masike, Selmor Mtukudzi, Shingisai Suluma, Busi Ncube, Gemma Griffiths and Dudu Manhenga to name a few are really amazing in their own right, but they don’t really get that much credit.
Despite creating amazing music, the artistes I just mentioned here still remain in the shadows. It’s a rarity to see them headlining any major events (unless it’s their album launches). Most of the time they are just supporting acts.
Some have put the blame on the promoters, highlighting that when they are organizing gigs, they don’t give women many opportunities.
For promoters, I believe it is a numbers game. They are looking for headliners who pull crowds, so they could argue that there are not many female musicians who have that pull factor.
So it comes down to the fans. Maybe local music fans are not giving female musicians a chance. Maybe we are just not that supportive of the ‘fairer sex’.
I mentioned Sha Sha earlier on. When she was still plying her trade this side of the border, no one was really paying attention besides the fact that she was clearly super talented.
It was the love and appreciation she got from South African music fans that made us realise that we had been ignoring a gem all along.
Every time I watch Tamy’s music videos, I keep asking myself why she is not being mentioned among the biggest artistes in the country. She has some of the best visuals out there, her music is exceptional but local music lovers are still sleeping on her.
The problem that we have is that we are just waiting for these artistes to do something controversial so that we start talking about them.
We want to give female artistes hype for the wrong reasons while turning a blind eye on the music they are putting out.
For example, we didn’t make so much noise when Sandra Ndebele dropped that “Ingoma” track or when she released “Lizwile” which features Professor (both deserving that hit status in my opinion). We had to wait for her to post images on social media so that we could talk about her curves.
If we, the fans start giving these female musicians the credit they deserve, DJs will also start playing their music on radio and in clubs because they will know we are up for it. I am sure promoters will also start valuing their work and also give them more prominence on their lineups.
I know there are many other things that I might have left out in this article, please feel free to add your thoughts in the comment section. Share on your social media platforms and with friends so that we get this conversation going.
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