Here at Afripop we’ve been big fans of Zimbabwean Netsayi ever since she burst onto the scene with her 2006 debut Chimurenga Soul. With her rootsy, soul vibe and clever, heartfelt lyrics she won critical acclaim. Now six months after the release of her second album Monkey’s Wedding and just a few weeks shy of the arrival of her first child, Netsayi talks to us about the birth of albums, babies and nations.
AfriPOP!: So how is all the baby stuff going?
Netsayi: Fine, it’s been quite exciting. Just trying to mentally prepare.
Is it your first?
Yeah [she says cooing]. I know. Quite exciting. I have six weeks left.
You must be quite big and belly-ful.
[Laughing] Yeah! It’s a bit of a shock actually. Because in the second trimester you have lots of energy and then you kind of get stuck. You get heavier and you know you are only going to get heavier.
Did you attend the Zimbabwe Pearl Ball (a fundraiser held in London recently in aid of Ndoro Children’s Charities)?
No, I don’t really believe in charity. Not in principal. I just think it has become so politicised. As Africans we’ve always got a structure for charity within the family. There are always orphans and children that need school fees paid. So I believe in community looking after each other but I can’t stand the way charity has become institutionalised. Like Comic Relief (British television fundraiser which raises money for projects mainly in Africa) – it plays up to so many pre-existing notions that people have [about Africa] and so people confuse the reasons why misfortune happens and they think that if we throw lots of money at the problem it will solve it when in actual fact it’s about politics and policy and racism and imperialism and all these sorts of things tangled up. And those images of people suffering are just used to manipulate people because charity is a business. It is a huge business. Maybe if I was in Zim and I knew there was an orphanage that needed help I wouldn’t be over thinking it to the extent that I am.
As a Zimbabwean singer, do you feel pressure to counter all the negative images we have of the country?
Yeah, definitely. Especially when I first came out. I realised that my story coincided with the story of the ‘disastrous state of Zimbabwe’ and I felt I had to defend the idea that it is not as simple as demonising a whole country. I have become very frustrated by the way that Zimbabwe has been portrayed and the way in which the problem has been aggravated by the media. That’s not to deny that we’ve had problems but those problems have been executed by more than one person. It’s not just about Mugabe being an arsehole.
With your second album which came out last year and things changing in Zimbabwe politically at least, do you still feel that pressure?
No. What I realised was that when things started changing in Zim and there was a prospect of recovery, all of those people who were doom-mongering weren’t able to get out of that mode. So they weren’t able to go, oh, you have a government of new unity and you’ve figured out how to stablise the economy. No-one wants to have that conversation with you. The people that were profiting in some way – either egotistically, or monetarily or professionally – from the situation still want Zimbabwe to be in a complete mess because that’s where the story is.
When were you last in Zimbabwe and how did you find it?
I was last there in January, a couple of months ago. And things are always difficult when you’ve been living in the UK where everything works and then you go home and everything is a bit slow and creaky. But things are definitely better than they were a year ago. It is an awful thing to see the country that you are from in a position where all its resources – be it people or money – are depleted. It is a terrible thing to witness. And I can’t tell you how good it felt to go back and see food in the shops. We have such a long way to go in terms of stabilising things properly but there is definitely a new sense of hope. I was getting really bored of people talking crap about Zimbabwe because words are very powerful and part of what brought Zimbabwe down to that level was people talking, talking, talking talking – the stock prices go down and investors start losing confidence and then we start talking about ‘failed states’.
Zimbabwe celebrates its 30th anniversary of independence this year. What are your thoughts on that and how will you be celebrating?
I didn’t really think about it, to be honest. Maybe because I am preoccupied by the fact that I am about to have a baby. But I am thinking about moving back to Zimbabwe quite soon after the birth. Even though I have work here and my label is based in Europe I want to be in Zimbabwe because I have been away for 10 years and I didn’t mean to be away that long. But in terms of independence, I wasn’t really thinking about it sentimentally. But I think it is a fabulous thing.
Zimbabwe has quite a small population, about 12 million, but it has a very strong artistic presence internationally. Why do you think that is?
I don’t know. I think we have very strong traditional music and with the traditional music being founded in mbira, it means that we’ve got this very Zimbabwean sound which means that all sorts of interesting hybrids can happen between traditional music and pop and Hip-hop and Jazz and so on. And also because of where we are geographically we are just above South Africa so there is kwaito and below DRC so there’s rumba and soukous music so we hear everything.
But even over here in Europe, you’ve got people like Eska Mtungwazi, Shingai Shoniwa (lead singer of The Noisettes), Tinashe all doing great things. Is there something in the water, perhaps?
Something in the water [laughs]? Lead!
Do you guys all hang out together or is there some kind of Zimbabwean Ex-pat Musicians Association?
No. I don’t know any of those guys. I’ve heard of them all but I think they’re all British-Zimbabweans whereas I was raised in Zimbabwe so most of the people I know from the music scene and the art scene are based in Zim.
Moving onto your album, which came out last autumn, how was it received?
I don’t know, it is difficult to say. My first album was much more widely reviewed but straight after Monkey’s Wedding was released we went on tour with Ladysmith Black Mambazo which was really successful.
Do you find it hard to get reviewed and get press coverage because you are on a smaller label?
I don’t think it’s because I am on a smaller label. Personally, I have reservations about the discrepancies between the way the album was produced and the way I like to present my work because the way I like to present it is in a roots-orientated way but the album itself is quite poppy and so, you know, when you start meddling with the pop formulas you are competing with everyone else out there who is making pop music. But for me, I would rather be with a small label than be one of 2,000 people on a label but you have to get that communication right and there has to be a unified intention in terms of what you are putting out.
Do you feel constrained by the ‘world music’ label that is applied to your music?
No, I don’t feel constrained. I don’t think it’s necessarily about the fact there is a thing called world music. It’s about the fact that when you turn on the radio you pretty much hear indie guitar music or a certain type of R&B or urban music and there isn’t really anything else. And that’s about commercial radio and the fact that it compresses everything. So Amy Winehouse has a hit with her retro sound and all of a sudden there’s another 20 artists that sound just like her. But that’s about the way the music industry works and world music is just another facet of that big machine. But I don’t really make world music.
I wouldn’t say you do but when I see your album in a shop or in a review it is under the world music category.
Yeah, but that’s because the categorisation is limited. If you say openly that you are African that becomes the identity of your music. When I am writing and arranging my music I am not complying with the rules of pop but I am not complying with anything so I sort of exist in this in-between space. But I don’t have unreasonable expectations of my music. I just hope it finds its audience.
Check out Netsayi’s artist website here and sample the album Monkey’s Wedding here.
