Latest News Editor's Choice


News / National

Makhadzi lashes Winky D

by Staff reporter
29 Aug 2023 at 07:04hrs | Views
ORGANISERS of the "Africa Music Festival 2023 - The Legends Tour" which was held in Leicester in the United Kingdom on Saturday have come under fire for failing to manage the show well, leaving Makhadzi, Jah Prayzah and some who attended the gig distraught.

The South African artiste, who was among the performing artistes at the show, had no kind words for the event's promoters, Y2K Entertainment whom she felt used her brand to market the event since she performed for about 10 minutes.

Due to the mismanagement of time by organisers, Makhadzi and Jah Prayzah who were the closing acts, apparently had to share the remaining 40 minutes, something which did not go down well with both artistes.

According to our sister newspaper, The Herald, the show drew over 4 000 Zimbabweans from all over England.

It featured performances from Mambo Dhuterere, Selmor Mtukudzi, Quonfuzed and Shingai who performed earlier in the day.

Organisers had 10 hours to host the show that was supposed to end at 10pm and yet, they failed to give the three main acts, Jah Prayzah, Winky D and Makhadzi at least an hour each.

According to our sister newspaper, Winky D started performing at 8:10pm and his set lasted for almost an hour. After that, only disaster was left to happen.

"Makhadzi and Jah Prayzah had to somehow ‘share' the remaining hour. When Makhadzi started her first song at 9:05pm, with closing time set at 10pm, it became apparent that a disaster was imminent. The disaster started soon after Makhadzi left the stage in a huff after only performing one song," reported The Herald.

"They won't let me perform because they only want Zimbabwean artistes to perform," Makhadzi is said to have blurted before ushering her dancers off the stage.

"The crowd felt her pain and started chanting her name so she could be brought back on stage, but it was in vain. Even when the MC announced that they could bring Jah Prayzah on stage instead, the crowd felt Makhadzi was hard done and they continued to chant her name.

"It took a while for Jah Prayzah's band to set up their instruments and by 9:20pm, he had not started performing.
"His last song was an apology as he has done on every show organised by Y2K over the years."

"It hurts me every time we come here because we'll be wanting to give you a show that's worth your time and money as you'll have travelled from different places and booked accommodation to be here. It saddens me to perform for you for only 30 minutes and this always happens every year," a disgruntled Jah Prayzah told fans in Leicester as he wrapped up his performance.

In a Facebook live moments after the show, Makhadzi had no kind words for Winky D who she accused of performing longer than expected and taking part of her time.

She also insinuated that the promoter of the gig had a nefarious plot to sabotage her and Jah Prayzah with whom they have collaborated for tracks Dzima and Kokovha. The unapologetic singer said the gig was set up to see her brand fall as well as to ensure a fallout between her and Jah Prayzah.

"My brother Winky D, I love you very much, but you disappointed us today (Saturday) because all of this (the gig) seems to have been planned to destroy us. I don't know if you know that, but that's how the situation was.

"All I can say is whatever happened there was planned for me and Jah Prayzah to fight. Jah Prayzah was supposed to perform for one hour thirty minutes while I had to perform 45 minutes, but we were left with 40 minutes to share between us," she said.

As if that wasn't damning enough, she accused organisers of the show of fronting them (herself and Jah Prayzah) to push other acts.

"It's not a secret that people bought the tickets because of me and Jah Prayzah. It's like we were given money to destroy our names. We had to share 20 minutes each with Jah Prayzah so that our fans would complain. I had to perform for 10 minutes whereas I had rehearsed a 45-minute set," vented Makhadzi.

Following this fracas, Makhadzi said she is considering hosting her own gig in the UK with her label Makhadzi Entertainment and will invite Jah Prayzah to share the stage with her to make up to fans.

She also unveiled that she will be dropping a new EP titled Auto Renewal on Friday under her newly launched stable Makhadzi Entertainment. The EP is set to feature a song she did with Alick Macheso.

Meanwhile, Makhadzi who feels hard done by Zimbabwean music promoters will have a chance to make things right next month as she is billed to perform at the Kadoma Music Festival taking place at The Odyssey on October 14.

She will once again share the stage with Winky D and Jah Prayzah and will also be joined by Alick Macheso and her fellow countryman, DJ Tira.

Source - The Chronicle