They say if you arrive in Harare and spend hours without hearing the sound of Zimdancehall then you have not arrived. This is a testimony of the impact and frenzy that has been created by the music genre whose inspiration is Jamaican dancehall. Over the past two years Zimbabwe has seen a serious proliferation of dancehall artists in every neighbourhood across cities, with studios also mushrooming everywhere solely to record and promote one music style.
Nowadays any musician in Zimbabwe can launch or release their music. Really? The question is what happens after the release? The hard reality is far from the truth. At best musicians will only be able to use their newly released CD as a marketing tool for live shows. The bottom line is ‘for an artist in Zimbabwe, a CD is as good as a business-card’ – a press kit. In reality, Zimbabwean musicians are slowly accepting the fact that they can only make a living from live gigs and other promotional activities. Music CD sales are thin and far between.
