Mark Ngwazi, the Sungura Beat Renovator!

Sungura music composer, Mark Ngwazi is reinventing the local genre with perfection. In his recent albums, the musician may sound like Aleck ...

Sungura music composer, Mark Ngwazi is reinventing the local genre with perfection. In his recent albums, the musician may sound like Aleck Macheso, on another verse he resembles Leonard Zhakata.

Njanja Express, his dancing crew exudes the energy of the late Tongai Moyo’s Utakataka Express, dishing explosive dancing styles. The guitar playing antics he presents, resonate with Alick Macheso, the king of the Sungura beat.

With some music greats fading into oblivion, producing hurried content, Mark is surely filling that yawning gap created by the departure by former Sungura players, with his sublime and spot-on social commentary. Fusing English words into his songs has reminded observers of Solomon Skhuza, who sang eloquently in local and English languages.

Mark Ngwazi, the Sungura Beat Renovator!

Ngwazi is reinventing the Sungura beat to the gratitude of local fans. Five albums later, he has cleansed and rejuvenated the beat, popular within beerhalls, nightspots and vernacular radio stations. And when his name was omitted from the recent awards, fans were angered. “I did not submit an entry because I had released my single on November 25 but thought it was too late. I know all the processes at Zima, but on this one, it slipped me,” said Ngwazi.

“I apologise to my fans over that. I saw the list and we should accept it. Our job as musicians is to entertain and sing. It is for the judges to come up with the nominations list. They know their job,” he added.

When it comes to lyrics, Ngwazi is proving to be a master of the art, loaded with wise, witty expressions in all his songs. No wonder his exploits have charmed a loyal following who now associate with the 33-year-old Hwedza-born composer. Recently, he garnered 100,000 likes on Tik Tok.

Before he retraced his musical passion, Ngwazi played a makeshift guitar in his village, moving to Harare as a security guard. Three years later, he returned to his first love, that is the guitar. As a boy, he strung his homemade banjo guitar, imitating Macheso, Pastor Charles Charamba among other musicians. On stage, he can play all guitars, but he prefers rhythm and lead guitars.

The singer was surprised by the popularity he has established. “I did not know I was that popular until the day my song was voted the best on the Top 50 chats on Radio Zimbabwe,” he told NewsDay. In the meantime, he is driven by a motto: trust nobody suspect everybody.

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