24/06/2022
Who is Mark Ngwazi
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!!
Mark Ngwazi is a Zimbabwean musician who was born on Independence day in 1988. He is a band leader, composer and choreographer. He is the leader of Njanja Express group.
Background
Mark Ngwazi was born on Independence Day in 1988 in Njanja in a family of seven – three girls and four boys. He happens to be the third born son to Boas Ngwazi and Rudo Kashiri. For his primary education, he attended Mutengwa Primary before he enrolled at Mudawarima Secondary School where he wrote his Ordinary Levels in the year 2005.[1] Afterwards, he worked at Bhadela Wholesale as a security officer, known in street lingo as Mahobho. He worked there for three years before he left.
Music Career
His passion for music started in the year 2002 when he was still in Form 1 playing home-made banjos. He used to play the banjos with his good friend called Emmanuel Mhlanga who has since joined the police. They used to imitate seasoned artistes like Charles Charamba, the late Paul Matavire and living legend Alick Macheso. He doesn’t recall being helped to play guitars since he largely self-taught himself. He used to listen to other people’s music and would then create his own sound. To date, he can play all the guitars even though he prefers playing the lead and rhythm guitars during live shows. In the studio, he specialises with the rhythm guitar. He is now the leader of a music outfit called Njanja Express, which was named after his home area in Chivhu.
He released his fifth album in November 2020 at East Point (formerly Jazz 105) in Harare. His album was well received as people have labelled him the next Alick Macheso as he has become a force to reckon with in the sungura music genre.[2]
His Breakthrough
He says that he endeared himself with fans when he recorded his first album – Zvandigumbura – in the year 2015. Prior to that, he had participated at the 2013 Chibuku Road To Fame where he won the provincial finals for Harare. Things did not go well at the national finals where they failed to make it into the top three but they got consolation prizes. The loss at the Chibuku Road To Fame finals gave them the courage to soldier own and they went on to record their debut album Zvandigumbura which took a giant stride in the right direction. Besides, Zvandigumbura, he has since recorded three more albums – Gudo Muriwo in 2017, Charger Yekatsono (2018) and his latest album Mudzimu wabudira paMbeveve released in June 2019.
His Vision
As a young sungura artiste, his vision is to reinvent the wheel and ensure that they put the genre to another level. In order to meet his goals, he looks forward to continue working hard. Lyrically, he wants to compose catchy songs with a deep meaning and also looking forward to composing English songs, which is a rarity in the sungura fraternity.
Role Models/Inspiration
Like any other musician, he has role models who inspire him a lot. One of such great people is Nicholas Zakaria, Paradzai Mesi and Alick Macheso. He likes their way of composing songs which keeps him going.
Rural Background
His experiences ekhaya (rural areas) has helped him to come up with powerful compositions. His Shona compositions are powerful because he experienced most of the things that he sings about in the songs. He used to be surrounded by village elders and would copy and imitate some of their sayings. Each time he composes his songs, he makes sure that he writes what he knows and experienced in his life in the rural areas. He still visits his rural home where he gets all the inspiration to sing and compose powerful songs.
Albums
Chamugwedumugwedu Chamatindike
Charger Yekatsono
Mudzimu Wabudira Pambeveve
Gudo Muriwo
Zvandigumbura
CREDIT- Reuben Yuda
