BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
MUTARE-BASED award-winning gospel musician Blessing Shumba has urged upcoming gospel singers who look up to him as a role model to persevere if they are to make it in the competitive music industry.
The Shongwe hitmaker made the remarks on the sidelines of the Ring Driving School ISO 9001:2015 certification ceremony in Harare on Friday.
“This music industry is not that easy as many would want to believe. It is not easy to be listened to by people and later have your music played on radio. It took me almost 12 years to be on the map, so one has to be focused on the call and not what will be happening in life or what people will be saying about you,” he said.
“If you want to be a gospel artiste who ministers through music, you have to be a Christian who walks the talk from your music as it is not easy to sing gospel music when one is not involved in it.”
The automotive engineer-cum-musician said all was set for the launch of his forthcoming 12-track album Ndimweya this Thursday at the Zimbabwe College of Music in Harare.
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“We are happy that we are presenting something new to our fans this Thursday as we launch our seventh album Ndimweya here in Harare before taking it home to Mutare,” he said.
“The message on this album is all about the Holy Spirit, what it does to our lives as people, how it works and what it promises. Through our compositions we are trying our best to bring the message that relates to the Bible as pure gospel. In other words, the compositions are a form of an audio Bible which must heal people’s souls.”
Shumba said the album will have an accompanying DVD that is expected to be on the market before August, courtesy of Ring Driving School who have pledged to sponsor its production.
“We thank Ring Driving School for elevating us in several ways. It is after they appointed me as their brand ambassador that more doors started to open as more corporates came on board to be associated with our growing brand,” he said.
The album was produced at Shumba’s own Psalmist Studios, where it went through the hands of Charles Ayibeki, Joseph Makiwa and Olin Anderson.
Some of the songs on the album are the title track Ndimweya, Anoita Zvishamiso, Secret, Farai and Deborah.
Shumba, who rose to stardom after the release of his debut album, Ishe Wazvose in 2008, has attributed his success in the competitive genre to his ability to compose songs with messages that he said can transform people’s lives, while standing the test of time.
Shumba has proved his artistic prowess through several chart-busters, which have seen him at one point winning the National Arts Merit Awards Outstanding Album gong and topped the Coca-Cola Radio Zimbabwe Top 50 several times.