Jonathan Moyo's passion for music

Zimbabweans who once danced to songs like Let it Play and those nonstop jiggles on the State broadcaster like Hondo yeminda should yet again brace for more as Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo says he has penned nearly 100 songs that are yet to be released.

Writing on his Twitter account, Moyo the man who was behind Pax Afro - the Afro-jazz group that has since zoomed into doom, said music is his passion.

Asked by his followers on his music career, he said, "...working on it but some six or so months behind the initial target.  I have close to 100 great new songs in the bank…,"

Moyo's musical journey can be traced to jingles that were aired by the State broadcaster during government's controversial land reform programme.

The jingles went along with very captivating videos at a time Moyo was still the Information minister and the going was tough for ordinary Zimbabweans.

The impact of the jingles resonated with the times and many ended up consciously or unconsciously singing along.

Jingles like Rambai makashinga, Uyadhela,  Siyalima, Machembere, Kutapira, Mombe mbiri nemadhongi mashanu, were played on every radio station, leading many to subconsciously sing along.

Then, only government-controlled radio stations were in existence and dished out these synonymous jingles at a time when very few could afford to subscribe to per pay view platforms.

During his tenure as the Information minister in the early 2000s, Moyo introduced the 75 percent local content, which saw the emergence of the urban grooves genre and the rise of young local talented artistes like Roki, Maskiri and Leonard Mapfumo among others.

Chamu Mugangavari, one of his followers asked him, "Have you ever gone to music school? to which Moyo said, "I took song-writing and guitar playing courses as an undergraduate at USC, Los Angeles, California in 1978/80."

When he was asked by his follower Tendai Gakaka his favourite Zimdancehall song he said, "when it comes to #ZimDancehall I want none to disappear."

For Moyo music runs in the blood and his doubters were left eating humble pie when he reminded them that he is the man behind some of the most popular songs that were once played on radio.

"...while you are still enjoying the joke, who composed Score Warriors? How about Sisonke? and Let it Play?" Moyo asked.

The controversial politician went on to detail how he had worked on the Back to Black album done by Pax Afro that carried hits like Let it play, Working under the mine and Tango pal among other hits.

The music project included veteran musician Isaac Chirwa, songstress Yulith Ndlovu, Tendai Manatsa as well as brothers Misheck and Michael Mahendere.

Responding to one of the tweets which suggested that the Pax Afro project had failed to remain consistent and died, Moyo said, "The group was experimental to showcase local talent and the promise of local content. It wasn't meant to be permanent!"

While his musical journey is not well documented, Moyo has at least shown great versatility and also composed a song called This is your day for his daughter Lungile and her husband Tafadzwa Wakatama on their wedding.