Gibson Ncube showcases Bulawayo's musicians on ZiFM

Bulawayo DJ Gibson Ncube has taken the city's music to the nation and beyond. The club dj and radio presenter hosts the The Zi Saturday Zone "Yo link to the City of Kings & Queens" on ZiFM every Saturday and he has seen the show grow and reach out to listeners as far as Australia, America, the UK, Ireland, Malaysia and neighbouring countries South Africa, Botswana and Zambia who get their weekend dose of home from the show.

Ncube who started the show on the 7th of December 2013 has given Bulawayo musicians a lift and a platform to have their music showcased on national radio. The up-beat show that is designed to get people into the weekend mode kicks of with the presenter's 13 minute house mix which is then interupted by his trade make intro that comprises elements from Michael Jackson,  American Hip Hop artists Swizz Beats and Fatman Scoop. These elements are then mixed with a line from Professor's Jimaphi  le-weight and an unknown Bulawayo rapper then throws in some lines in Ndebele to set the mood for Ncube introduction to the show.

The highlights of the show are the dj's house mixes, the Kwaito revival segment where the dj takes people back to the kwaito era with a variety of hit songs, the Retro sessions where he plays old skool tracks from RnB and Hip Hop to Mbaqanga. The Promo Zone sees the presenter introduce two tracks he predicts to be future hits, then Ncube puts Bulawayo musicians on the map with two features called "Uknown be Known" and "The New Generation Vocal Booth".  

The Unknown Be Known feature is all about new artists who are looking for that platform to be heard and be noticed. I give them about 7 minutes to expose themselves and all I do is hook up with the artist in the streets, they give me their music, we do an inteview, I put everything together and boom, we hit the nation with some fresh new talent from Bulawayo. Where-as with The New Genaration Vocal Booth, this is a about the sound that the young guys are comin up with, be it kwaito, house, afro jazz, gospel or hip hop, what ever it is, as long as its not music from seasoned artists, this is their platform" Ncube said.

To date, the show has showcased mo than 30 artists including House music outfits like The Real G, DJ Lava D featuring Mbo Mahocs, DJ Keitho,  Kwabatsha,  Khuxxman, Marius Keng, DJ Cooperman,  Djembe Monks,  Hip Hop artists like Dingi Cash, Tha Kin, Klap, LA Josh & Duke Raider, Lady Thug, Afro Jazz artists X-mile, DJ Face, Thandi Dlana, Rnb artist Alaina, Dance music artists Bob Skinner,  Tramaine, Antivirus, Gospel artists like RudoAmor , Percy featuring Brenda and many more. "Some of these artists have already generated interest form people in the music industry in South Africa and Europe. Some one in the Republic of Ireland got intouch with me and they want to work with Alaina, a record label in the UK wants to realease Marius keng's debut single "Falling in Love" and someone in South Africa also wants to do something with The Real G. Our music is getting recognised and it is getting somewhere" Ncube said.

The presenter went on to say "the only challenge am facing with some Bulawayo artists is that a lot of them produce sub-standard music. Their quality, from sound to production is very poor. Their content, lyric wise, especially hip hop artists, it is not even radio friendly. Worse still they rap about things they see in movies, or what the American hip hop artist raps about as having experienced or expereince in their hoods. Some of our hip hop artists then come and give us the same thing. I once got a song from an artist who was rapping about cruising in his chopper, landing it on one of the city's centre building etc and I was like hayi bo mfana (no dude), why not rap about ukugada umtshova ovika ama potholes (rap sbout being in a kombi and the driver avoiding potholes), something we know is real. Worse still, some even give me tracks that are not mastered and others send me youtube links asking me to download their songs from there and play it. How can I take such artists serious? A lot of Bulawayo musicians complain about their music not being played on national radio etc and in all honesty, some of it it's not worth playing because of the reasons  I've given" Ncube said.

The DJ encouraged the musician to up their game and produce quality music, music like the one he has showcased since December. "People are appreciating and loving music from Bulawayo. I get a lot of feedback when the artists's music is playing and listeners find it hard to believe that it is local music and above all, it is music from Bulawayo" said the DJ.  Ncube further said that he is now opening his doors to companies that would like to associate themselves and their brands with the "Uknown Be Known" and "The Generation Vocal Booth" features so as give these platforms more flavour and mileage, as well as give our musicians an extra incentive to produce quality music.

 "It would be great to have our Bulawayo musicians and their feature on ZiFM associated with company brands, the same way companies in Harare are doin it for their musician. Two or three weeks ago after my radio show, I went to an event at the 7Arts in Harare where one company sponsored an event that featured more than 20 urban grooves artists. I think it would great if our local companies could also get involved and associate their brands with the artists as well as also promote local musicians through their brands and events. Ama artists lawo ayathenga lawo ma brands bewasebenzise (artists also buy and use some of these brands), so why not work together?. If these companies can do it Harare for their Harare artists, why can't the same companies who have branches in Bulawayo do the same for our Bulawayo artists?" said Ncube.
 
Gibson Ncube's show the Zi Saturday Zone "yo link to the City of Kings & Queens" is live on ZiFM Stereo every Saturday from 6-9pm.