BARELY three months after dancehall president Winky D (real name Wallace Chirumiko) scooped the Best African Dancehall Entertainer Award at the Global Reggae and World Music Awards, he is up for another gong.
While back home, Winky D is under attack, he, however, continues to earn global recognition following his nomination for the African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) 2023 set to be held in Dallas, Texas on September 17.
For singing about Zimbabwe’s unsustainable levels of poverty, corruption and unemployment which are breeding social injustices and human rights abuses, Winky D appears to have become an enemy of the State.
AFRIMMA is an annual African music awards ceremony aimed at rewarding and celebrating musical works, talents and creativity on the African continent.
The awards accommodate all musical genres including Afrobeats, Afro-Trap, Assiko, Bongo, Coupé-décalé, Genge, Highlife, Kwaito, Lingala and Soukous.
Winky D has been nominated for the Best Male category at the forthcoming 10th edition of the AFRIMMA 2023 awards.
For the category, Winky D will battle for honours with the late South Africa heavy weights Costa Tich and AKA, alongside Musakeys, Dj Maphorisa and Sjava (all from Mzansi).
Also up for the awards are Dj Tarico (Mozambique), Han C (Botswana) and Macky2 (Zambia).
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Winky D’s manager, Jonathan Banda yesterday told NewsDay Life & Style that the nomination means acknowledgement and recognition.
“The Vigilance team would like to extend gratitude to the music family which has rallied behind the artiste. We have gathered enough leverage from where we came from. The works are not going in vain, but they are people connecting with the music,” Banda noted.
“Such nominations show that we could be failing in a lot of ways, but we are doing some things in a good way, and we will continue to learn from our failures. It motivates us to work harder as much as we face challenges.”
Noting that music is a journey, he said: “l will remember Winky D performing at the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) in 2009 while he was not a nominee in a red suit, so music is a journey. We extend our gratitude to the fans who have been with us through the journey.
“This is not the first time Winky D has been nominated at the AFRIMMA, looking at where we came from standing among African music giants is a well worth recognition.”
As Winky D’s artistry continues to be appreciated, he has been featured on the late music legend, Bob Marley’s latest rendition of the song So Much Trouble In The World.
The song is off the posthumous tribute album titled Africa Unite 2023.
Winky D has also been featured on Jamaican reggae music singer Blvk H3ro’s song titled Big Tings off the latter's album On a Misson.
The song also features Vylet Stone from Ghana.
Commenting on the collaborations, Banda said the features were borne out of organic connections and appreciation by other music stakeholders.
“That is the good part about music, you can connect with someone who does not even know what you look like out of the soulfulness of the vibe so we will keep working,” he noted.
The Kambuzuma-born and 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.
Over the years, Winky D has proved to be a cut above the rest, raising the Zimdancehall flag high, getting recognition both locally and on the international stage.
The Mafirakureva hitmaker has continued to solidify his legacy as one of the continent’s finest artistes of his generation.
Recognition in the form of awards has naturally followed.
