Tina Emergres From Busi Ncube’s Shadow

From the Zimbabwe Herald
by Jairos Saunyama, 1st March 2012

Former Busi Ncube and the late Taku Mafika’s backing vocalist Tina Watyoka has embarked on a solo expedition and is currently riding high on the music scene with her soothing six-track album titled “Introducing Tina”.

The 23-year-old Chitungwiza-based songstress, who leads a five-member band, said she learnt a lot from established musicians whom she worked with.

“I dream of becoming one of the most sought-after jazz singers because music is my passion.

“I got the opportunity to work with established artistes like Busi (Ncube) and I learnt a lot from them.

“Yes, I started singing at church when I was 12 years old but all credit goes to Busi, who taught me a lot about music.

“I want to be another leading female jazz artiste in the country and join the likes of Dudu Manhenga for the growth of the genre.

“This is why I titled the album ‘Introducing Tina’. It means I have something unique to deliver,” she said.

She is a truly gifted singer with a near flawless and soothing vocal style. Her music has a touchy feel and it explores serious themes based on her life’s experiences.

Watyoka draws her inspiration from Eryka Badu and Lira and her debut album focuses on family, life’s challenges and marriage.

“Introducing Lira” is a combination of modernised mbira sound played on guitar, keyboard and a striking electric guitar coupled with fantastic improvisation.

Watyoka featured Mono Mukundu on one of the songs on her album and she also backed great musicians like Isaac Chirwa and hip-hop poet Cde Fatso.

She made her maiden appearance at the 2011 edition of Harare International Festival of the Arts as a backing vocalist for Chiwoniso Maraire.

Together with the late Taku, Gary Muponda (Willom Tight’s son) and Thokozile Nzvimbo, they toured Europe in 2010 as Africa’s representatives in the International Youth Orchestra.

She is currently studying music at the Zimbabwe Music College.

About these ads

About Rob

Born and educated in Zimbabwe, Africa, I grew up with in an environment much different from the one that I find I now live in. In some ways I find that the third world has a more appropriate sense of moral standards in comparison to the so called first world. When you are brought up in an environment that expects you to be totally self sufficient and prepared to make your own destiny you develop a strong sense of Entrepreneurship early on in life. You learn a “can do” attitude and become multi skilled. I have been amazed to find that living in a first world country so many people have little or no ambition in life. There is no sense of pride in achievement and everyone follows a set pattern because it is unthought-of to break societies trends. What is the purpose of going to university to become a travel agent? Why spend years educating yourself to sell yourself short at the first hurdle. True visionaries have learnt in this claustrophobic society of the first world to think outside the box. Measured success has come from individuals that learnt to apply themselves through hard work and the ability to see an opportunity and apply themselves accordingly. I was educated in a country that has a record internationally as having a society that are regarded as being the most highly educated people in Africa. That is not to say that they are academically perfect, but they have a practical knowledge that sets them aside as being unique in their ability to take what they learn around them and apply it to their own circumstances to adapt and be successful in ways other societies cannot. I am proud to be a part of this community, and proud of my heritage. As an individual I have learnt over time to have an appreciation for things I never quite understood before I was subjected to the big bad world. I am most certainly not perfect, and far from where I would like to be at in my life, but it is a journey along many roads, and with many adventures and tribulations along the way. Those of you that join me on this blog will find the thoughts, feelings and ideas that this journey generates for me. So I welcome you, and if you like what you read, give me a shout, I would be glad to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Posted on March 1, 2012, in African Musicians, Album Release, News and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.

  1. Yeah wish the best for Tina, down to earth and Hard working.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 711 other followers

%d bloggers like this: