By Plot Mhako| As the year starts I will rant a bit. I thought I should talk a bit about the TOP 50s:

Radio and TV end of year chart shows are some of the highlights from the Zim music scene. They are a culmination of what would have transpired throughout the year „supposedly“, however year in, year out just like the different award platforms, these shows have left a lot of unanswered questions. They appear biased & not reflective of National platforms.

Well, I will narrow it to two main media outlets because of their national reach, multi-cultural programming and also that they are state-run. Radio Zimbabwe and ZBC TV. A glimpse into the 50 songs and 50 videos that made the list in 2019 is very worrisome for so many reasons.

Before breaking down these, I will reiterate that I am very aware that Harare is not Zimbabwe and also the internet does not give a true reflection of the musical consumption patterns and trends in the country. There is music that never goes viral on social media but still commands a huge following on Radio Zimbabwe, the same with videos, (most that are played on Ezomgido).

However, with that being said, we still have a problem. The challenges are systematic, institutional and have been perpetuated over the years. Regionalism, Tokenism!

Looking at the Top 50 lists you will see that we have one or two songs from the South and a blackout on the videos list. Some of the content on the lists is just poor. On the videos, Sho Madjozi, Sean Paul, Patoranking easily made it to the list. It is easy for foreign content to get recognized and played in Zim that other local content. Some will say there is a language barrier !!!

That’s crap. We groove to so much music whose languages we can’t even hear and when the artists come to Zim we fill up the venues.

There is a lot of talent in other towns, villages, and provinces, a lot of it but artists struggle to break the Harare boundaries. One, the gatekeepers, the distance, the systems, and the ignorance. A lot of the great content finds no space on the most important platforms unless if done in appeasement. Look at SHA SHA, BERITA KHUMALO, BEKEZELA and what they are doing. We only took notice of them when SA embraced them. If we deeply reflect we will get the point.

Now we have over 10 regional stations, commendable effort but as long as artists from other places find no space on the national frequency we are doing ourselves a disservice. Their music only travels as far as 40km radius and can easily be ignored. There is more value in getting national airplay, that way one can get more reach, more shows (if their content is good) and build a bigger brand. In today’s world, music and creative talents play a huge role in inspiring a nation, fostering national pride, cohesion, shaping the international image/narrative, creating employment and wealth. Zimbabwe is lagging behind on all of these.

There was a lot of great music and some amazing videos made in 2019 (i could give so many examples). Some could say the artists don’t submit, well it shows the lack of faith in the systems. Are the systems archaic, captured or simply out of touch? The internet has become a graveyard for so much great talent.

Back to the Top 50s: We skirt around these issues and pretend all is well but I think it is upon us to fix this. We need to collectively make conscious and deliberate steps to correct the crisis in our midst. We can not have a musical monopoly. We have so much talent, some of it blow-up and blows out quickly; the artists face a lot of discouragements at home and the struggle is real.

Until next time, the plot thickens.