First things first, we would like to attribute the title of this blog post to the late Cal Vin who titled his song, ‘Maybe If I was a…‘ This blog post is a love letter to our fellow artists who need to be rescued from the shackles of trying to fit into a system that will never accept them. We have all the resources required to make it on our own but you have to take the leap. Nxa ngilibona lihawukela abanye abantwana ngiyawuzw’ umoya wami.

Improve my craft

One thing Elsa Majimbo and Khaby Lame have taught us is that when it’s your time, it’s your time. They had been making funny content for a while before they got their big break. Instead of what’s going on around you, focus on what’s going on with you. Push yourself further to create new work that’s original and refreshing. Give us one-liners to create TikTok content on. Give us heavy punchlines to use as Instagram captions. Give us relatable music we can vibe to on repeat. Sell us crack! We are your addicts. We want to be deep in our dreams and still hearing your song while we are sleeping. We want to be stressed and still want to hear you sing to us. We want to be in a ZUPCO and the only song that soothes the situation is yours. We want to hear your song and want to tell everyone about it! We want to be Jehovah’s Witnesses going door to door sharing your music with the world. That starts with you. Write us music with substance, music with depth, music with feeling. Take all your frustrations and give us those Majaivana classics which we can still relate to today.

Solicit constructive criticism

Leave the catching feelings for umjolo. When we review your art, we are not trying to embarrass you, we are trying to make you better. The standard is the standard. Our reviews of Bulawayo creative work are weak because we are pussy-footing around your frail egos. Unfortunately, udokotela kaziyelaphi and iqaqa kalizizwa ukunuka so we have to give you a fresh perspective on what you have created. We are doing you a disservice when we say your music video is great and it gets turned down by Channel O or Trace Africa. Usudinga amaloyo. Those people don’t know you, they aren’t from Harare, who are you going to blame now?

Stay away from the politics

Politics only pay if you are in the ruling party. Leave the cliques and the arts mafia alone. Your loyalty to your crew which isn’t bringing in money is holding you back. This is not Shady Aftermath you can’t afford to inherit 50’s beef with Murder Inc. Imagine losing out on gigs just because kuthiwa udlala lozibani (not based on a real beef, just an example.) As artists, you are stronger together. When one of you gets disrespected, you’ve all been disrespected. The only way for evil to prevail is for a good man to stand by and do nothing. Keeping quiet for the sake of saving your own skin will keep you bound to a failing industry. You’re being taken for a poes time and again because they have managed to use intimidation and retribution of being outcast from the industry to keep you quiet. That’s the real tragedy, this is the greater divide than the tribalism you’re fighting in futility.

I never used to take being blacklisted seriously until it happened to me.

— 🇿🇼Mgcini Nyoni🇿🇼 (@MgciniNyoni) June 8, 2021

Ignore what isn’t authentically me

Shut out the noise. Everyone has an opinion on what a Bulawayo artist should be like and most of them are speaking from a position of privilege. They don’t understand the infrastructural marginalisation of being from Bulawayo or the rest of Zimbabwe. They thrive from being salacious and when Bulawayo artists engage, it boosts their numbers and they get high off the clout and keep doing it over and over. What would happen if they posted and we ignored them the way we ignore our fellow Bulawayo artists when they release new work? I’m not friends with the guy who wrote about “Hatirare” but Byo artists in my phonebook brought him to my WhatsApp groups, timelines and WhatsApp statuses. Where was that energy when Vuyo Brown released the masterpiece that is, ‘Imvana?’ You’re a sucker for punishment, in the words of Mario, “Baby I just don’t get it, do you enjoy being hurt?” The Majaivana in me wants to say, loba ungahlabela ngolimi lwabo abalandaba lawe! Besides Freeman featuring Sandra Ndebele, which other artist from that side has tried to learn ulimi lwesintu and sang it in their songs. Please stop twirling for people who don’t care about you. There are more who are for you than against you, ask Vusa Mkhaya and Awa Khiwe, they have a whole other nation fighting for them as theirs.

Thank you so much Hip hop Ville, it's an honour to be featured on this big platform. I'm not South African, I am proudly Zimbabwean, from Nkayi,Matebeleland. I saw some comments about how it's sad that I'm copying Zulu😂 That isn't Zulu fam, that's Ndebele. 🙏🏾❤🇿🇼 #ndebelerap pic.twitter.com/Ins9nwCWvw

— AWA KHIWE (@Awa_Khiwe) July 9, 2021

There is a difference between a studio musician and a live performer. Perfect your stage act and do it for the WORLD not for Zimbabwe, South Africa and Zimbabweans in the diaspora. Perform your songs as much as possible live before taking them to the studio. #AsilwiSiyasebenza

— Vusa Mkhaya (@VusaMkhaya) August 31, 2020

Join the Arts industry ecosystem

The Bulawayo arts ecosystem is thriving but we don’t see that because we are all focused on our own craft. We are pining for the love and acceptance from eMpumalanga that we tend to overlook that we have our own things that we could work with. We have our own radio stations, awards to be won, recording studios, venues to be filled, festivals to perform at and an audience to tap into. Kodwa you’re too focused on ukuhawukela ukudla kukamakhelwane. There’s power in collaboration. Bulawayo artists won’t be able to rake in the numbers individually but together, we are a force to be reckoned with. No one can build an industry by themselves. Even Kanye West is in an industry with other players. Musicians, you are not the first borns of Bulawayo arts. If we start to integrate the other forms of art and fuse them together, we’ll be unstoppable. Musicians need stylists, models, graphic designers, blogs, etc. If your phonebook doesn’t have artists in other trades you’re playing yourself. There are several groups for you to join in order to mingle with other creatives, find them and network. There’s so much to learn from one another. You are not just an artist, you’re also an audience to another artist.

With love,

A Bulawayo artist

Looking for creative opportunities in the local arts scene? Join the Khura Agency Facebook group to gain access to creative opportunities available to musicians, poets, singers, dancers, etc. Join the group here: https://t.co/TY2rq2MEXw #EzakoNtuthu #ByoArts #ByoArtists pic.twitter.com/kK1sW0bwCO

— Khura Agency for #ByoArts (@KhuraAgency) May 29, 2021