After the visit to Zimbabwe by Bob Marley during independence celebrations in April, 1980, Reggae Music became ubiquitous and almost every young person adopted the Rastafarian culture at the time. After the death of Bob Marley the following year, on May 11, 1981, his legacy lived on as the popularity of Rastafari and reggae music continued unabated.
It was veteran local music groups such as Transit Crew which kept that genre of music going in Zimbabwe. Other Reggae artistes and bands which have sprung up in Zimbabwe in recent years include Hot-a-Fire, Mic Inity, Reggae Revealers,, Crucial Mix led by Trevor Hall (a.k.a. Ras Jabulani), Man Souljah and PACE (People Against Cruel Existence) and House of Stone.
About Transit Crew
Formed in 1988, the original band comprised Munya Brown (former Misty-in Roots member who had stayed behind when the band visited Zimbabwe) on drums, Munya Brown first joined a popular band , Ilanga as their drummer but failed to persuade them into becoming a strictly reggae band. This is when the idea of forming Transit Crew came about. Transit Crew come from the tradition of reggae that Bob Marley epitomised – a heavy roots message with conscious, thought-out lyrics designed to uplift the nation.
The band Transit Crew has a long history. It came into existence in 1988. Since then the band has had a transformation. In its early stages it comprised seven members namely former Misty-in Roots drummer, Munya Brown, Tendai Gamure ( aka Culture T) and Emmanuel Frank, both on vocals, Munyaradzi Nyemba on bass, Samaita Zindi on guitar, Temba Jacobs on guitar, and Anthony ‘Liba’ Amon on keyboards.
The band performed at many venues within Zimbabwe and even toured Japan.
After the release of the single, Zimbabwean Girl in 1990, a successful tour of Tokyo, Japan, followed. The tour was meant to last just six weeks, but the band got so popular with the Japanese youth who all chanted “Jah Rastafari” and the tour had to be extended by a further 20 weeks.
In the early 1990’s after their return from Japan, Transit Crew were joined by Reggae Dunhill as the lead singer and became the main support act for Jamaican artistes who visited Zimbabwe, such as Culture, Dennis Brown, I Jahman Levi, Eric Donaldson and Shabba Ranks. In the same year, Transit Crew became the backing band for visiting Jamaican singer, Luciano, in Zimbabwe and on March 1, 2010, they successfully backed Sizzla Kalonji during his farewell party.
On November 27 and December 4, 2010, The Spillway venue at Lake Chivero in Harare and Pamuzinda were respectively set ablaze by British-based Jamaican artiste, King Sounds, on his visit to Zimbabwe. He was backed by Transit Crew with help from three locally-based female backing vocalists, Hope Masike, Thanda Richardson and Vimbai Zimuto with three men from the police band on the brass section. King Sounds was so impressed by the band that he wanted to take them to Rebel Salute festival in Jamaica, but this was too short a notice since the festival was being held in January 2011.
A 2009 release, Unity took Zimbabwe by storm and is still causing waves in South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. This eleven track album is solidly deep roots rock reggae with one instrumental track, entitled Used to be, featuring Mono Mukundu, another Zimbabwean guitar icon.
Three of the original members, Cultured T., Munya Nyemba and Samaita Zindi are now late. Culture T was the first to go in August 2006. He was followed by Munya Nyemba who died ten years later, in March 2016 and then Samaita Zindi on May 9, 2018.
Despite these deaths from prominent members of the group, the band carries on. Many names have featured in this group from Mono Mukundu, Isaac Chirwa, Costa Teguru, Mic Inity, Adam Muchenje, Learnmore Mhlanga, Joshua Penga, Tawanda Mandirahwe aka Destiny, Vimbai Zimuto, Hope Masike, Thanda Far Richardson, Jairos Hambahamba, vocalists, Emmanuel ‘Mannex’ Motsi, Jeffery ‘J. Farai’ Sithole, Solomon ‘Rootsman Spice’ Tokwe,, the late Dennis Wilson and Rungano Chaza. After the deaths of the three original members only Liba was left in the band.
Enter Pablo Nakappa
When Munya Nyemba died, it was difficult to find a replacement. The band struggled and tried out many bassists including Costa Teguru and Learmore Mhlanga until Pablo Nakappa agreed to join the band as a bassist in 2017. Pablo agreed to work with guitarist Samaita Zindi, J Farai, Mannex Motsi and Antony Liba until the former guitarist’s death in 2018. J. Farai and Mannex decided to leave Transit Crew which was in shambles after Samaita’s death. Cello Culture was then recruited to do the vocals. This is when Isaac Chirwa also came in to replace Samaita Zindi. After a while both Isaac and Liba left the band and Pablo was left to re-construct the band.
Enter Cello Culture
Cello Culture aka Tinashe Gamure born on September 28, 1990 started singing at a very tender age. He is a nephew of the original Transit Crew vocalist, Tendai “Culture T” Gamure . Cello Culture used to watch his uncle perform with Transit Crew and decided that he would take on the mantle from where his uncle left. He is now the singer in the new transformed Transit Crew Band and together, they are making waves. He broke into the limelight with hits such as Minana which also features another Zim dancehall veteran, Soul Jah Love.
I witnessed Transit Crew perform at the recent Burning Spear show and again at Garwe’s Restaurant last weekend. The current crew which comprises drummer Charles Mugari, Arthur Timbe on guitar, Vocalist Cello Culture, Pablo Nakappa on bass, Raymond Mupfumira and Ishmael Pukuto on keyboards is making the band feel new, refreshingly positive, uplifting and exciting. In my opinion, this new line-up of Transit Crew is a breath of fresh air.
In this year’s, Zimbabwe Reggae and Dancehall Merit Awards 2023-2024, Cello Culture was voted the best Reggae act while Transit Crew became the best Reggae Band.
These winnings seem to have caused consternation among those who had left the band thinking that it was going nowhere. One former member of the band was suggesting that the band should now change its name because the original members are no longer part of it. But how can the original members continue with the band when most of them are dead?
In a casual conversation with a Jamaican friend of mine based in London I mentioned the fact that one ex-member of Transit Crew wants these youngsters to change their name because most of the founding members are dead. He says that these youngsters no longer represent the original band. Well, the original band does not exist any more.
However the name of the band is not registered anywhere, not even in Zimbabwe. So no one really legally owns that name. There is no law in the country that will prevent anyone from using that name .
My friend’s reaction was: “Too raatid man. Whatta bomboclaat! It’s pure jealousy! The words Transit and Crew are found in the dictionary. No one can claim the rights to them. Did he write any dictionary? Him mad!”
However, those Transit Crew artistes who have composed and conducted any recordings with Transit Crew are advised to seek royalties from Zimura which deals with composers of music in Zimbabwe.
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