PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Mixing Music & Politics Chimurenga Style
by NewWorldBuzz.com Monday, Apr. 21, 2003 at 6:02 PM
info@newworldbuzz.com

Zimbabwean recording artist Thomas Mapfumo is featured guest on the New World Buzz website for the month of April. Thomas can be heard online talking about his album "Chimurenga Rebel/Manhungetunge." I invite you to check out the current NWB webcast and welcome your comments & feedback on the show.

The show spotlights new releases by such artists as Romero, Bob Holroyd and Varttina, plus an exclusive interview with Zimbabwean recording artist Thomas Mapfumo.

Thomas Mapfumo was born in 1945 in Marondera, a small town south of the Rhodesian capital, Salisbury. He spent his first ten years living in the countryside with his grandparents. Thomas worked first with the Acid Band, and then with the Blacks Unlimited. Thomas's lyrics reflected the concerns of the people around him.

Near the end of Zimbabwe's war for independence, the Rhodesians arrested Thomas and attempted to use him to rally support to hold power. But in 1980, Robert Mugabe was elected president of the new nation. That year, Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited shared the stage in Salisbury (now called Harare) with Bob Marley and the Wailers. This year, 2003, Thomas� music is again banned in Zimbabwe. He lives in virtual exile with his family and band in the US. Still, his 2001 release in Zimbabwe �Chimurenga Rebel� sold it�s entire 35,000 copies in a few days, despite it�s banning from the government airwaves. His tours have taken him throughout the USA. His recent Christmas and New Years shows in Zimbabwe drew thousands of devoted fans.

Thomas was honored with a Master�s Degree in Music from the University of Zimbabwe and Artist of the Year from the American World Music Awards in 1999, received a PhD in Music from Ohio University and was recipient of Zimbabwe�s Person of the Century in the Art�s Award in 2000. His 2000 release, �Chimurenga Explosion�, won AFIM�s Best World Contemporary CD Award in March 2001. All 4 of his aNOnym reCOrds releases have found their place in �The Top 10� for their respective years. That summer's double release, �Manhungetunge/Chimurenga Rebel," was ballistic. 2003�s blockbuster, �Toi Toi,� also banned by ZBC, immediately became the #1 top seller in Zimbabwe.

This new millennium finds Thomas Mapfumo an international force in World Music, still composing, recording, performing and touring unceasingly, and destined to live in every African Music Hall of Fame worldwide, forever.

www.NewWorldBuzz.com