MULTI-AWARD-WINNING dancehall chanter, Winky D told his multitude of fans on Sunday that he has been warned not to play his popular song Ibotso off Eureka Eureka, a politically-charged album that has a lot of discomfort and controversy in government circles.
Ibotso talks about rampant corruption in Zimbabwe and the general suffering among Zimbabweans.
Born Wallace Chirumiko, Winky D made the revelations during his sterling performance at the Fill UP Queens Sports Club, Byo Shut Down concert in Bulawayo.
Winky D was making his first public appearance a month after his performance was cut short when police besieged the stage while he was performing at Damview Chikwanha Blue Rest Grill and Bat in Chitungwiza.
“Let me talk, I have been cautioned, I have been warned and they said if you sing that particular song there is going to be disaster; so, I do not want disaster here,” he shouted in the midst of his performance.
“I want people to have fun, I want people to party, I want to see every gaffer in full enjoyment, every gaffer who is here to party. Can I see a signal early Sunday morning, I want every gaffer in the place, Maninja.”
He continued: “They want to arrest the music, they must leave the music to flow like the water in the river, they don’t have to control my playlist, I have to play what I want, I have to play what you want.”
Winky D went on to sing his yesteryear hit song Gafa Party some of whose lyrics say: “I don’t do politics, but I will never leave the party.”
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After the concert, Winky D saluted his fans for the support.
“Thank you, Bulawayo, for the love and support, the Shutdown gig was flames,” he said on his official Facebook page.
The Eureka Eureka album appears to have fuelled enmity between the Mafirakureva hitmaker and authorities.
Since the launch of the album on December 31, Winky D has had little rest from purported the ruling Zanu PF party’s social media trolls.
Eureka Eureka carries songs such as Ibotso, Vafarasi, Chauruka and Dzimba Dzemabwe, which features United Kingdom-based songstress Shingai, among many others who tackle social injustice issues, Zimbabwe’s enduring economic meltdown and corruption within government.
For simply singing about the country’s unsustainable levels of poverty, corruption and unemployment that are breeding social injustices and human rights abuses, Winky D appears to have become an enemy of the State.
It was shocking to hear Zanu PF information director Tafadzwa Mugwadi recently accusing Winky D of being used by the United States embassy in Harare to preach the regime change agenda meant to topple President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
A week after Eureka Eureka was released, Economic Empowerment Group, a Zanu PF-affiliated pressure group called for a ban on Winky D’s music saying it caused alarm and despondency within the “peaceful” youths.
Government has reportedly ordered State-run radio stations to mute Winky D’s music amid allegations that his music causes “alarm and despondency”.
Born in the ghetto, the Kambuzuma-bred Winky D has become a darling of many who relate to the messages in his music that speak about the everyday struggles in the ghetto and nation at large.
In the past Winky D has released other songs such as Mafirakureva, Ijipita, Njema and Murombo that highlight the artiste’s desire for a better Zimbabwe.
Winky D’s efforts to sing against social evils have not gone unnoticed. For the second time, this year he again won the International Reggae & World Music Awards (IRAWMA) under the Best African Dancehall Entertainer category where he battled for honours alongside Patoranking from Nigeria, Shatta Wale and Stone Bwoy (all from Ghana) and Star Zee from Sierra Leone.
- Follow Winstone on Twitter @widzoanto
