Zimbabwe’s Next Great Musical Export
Tariro Negitare on motherhood, love and finding herself.
Tariro Negitare disturbs my interview routine.
She is ten minutes early. That is usually the time I go through talking points and get ready for my interviews. She waves as she enters the restaurant where we are meeting, smiling, obviously oblivious to the direction the interview is about to take.
Not that it goes any wrong really. We light up a conversation like two old friends and being the good listener she is, I had to remind her (and myself) that this was not my interview but hers.
I first met Tariro when she was shooting what was meant to be her first live DVD. I was contracted to work backstage and I clearly remember the attention to detail she put into every aspect of the show including the music, the sound, the scenic and lighting designs. I remember being in awe with how casual she was with her staff when she was relaxed but suddenly turned into an unapologetic diva when it was time to put the work in and get the results.
She is serious about her art. A founder of the Acoustic Night, she partners with the Zimbabwean German Society (Goethe Zentrum), to provide a platform for young artists to show off their skills to a wider audience. Ironically, this is the very platform that helped catapult her career into the mainstream. Karma?
Additionally, she conducts a parallel Business of Art seminars where she and other artists teach participating young artists how to turn their art into sustainable businesses, something which she herself has managed to do in a little under three years since turning to music full time.
From a 13 year old girl who picked up guitar as a hobby to a 28 year old woman with a seven piece band, who travels to different parts of the world with her art sometimes performing in arenas with big bands and calling some of the biggest names in music world wild her peers and mentors.
Says Tariro: ‘My gift has taken me to places I could have never imagined. To think that it was something I looked down upon.’
In early 2013, soon after recording her first album, she together with her friends from Acoustic Night, Prayersoul and Rutendo Machiridza, joined mega German band Jamaram on their 19 city tour of Germany.
‘We met a lot of artists and promoters and observed how the [] structures work therefore picking up habits and [ideas] we could use to elevate our careers back at home,’ she says
She adds: ‘The trip changed my perception on how to handle myself as an artist.’
True to that, in just over a year since she returned, Tariro Chaniwa as her parents named her has slowly become one of the most demanded artists on the local music scene. Soon after returning, she shared the stage with UK group The Noissettes at the 2013 edition of HIFA, somewhere in between there managing to rope in Oliver Mtukudzi as a mentor, performing with Zahara and opening for Bryan Adams while still running the Acoustic Night and performing countless other shows around the country while also being a mother to her eight-year old daughter.
An enthusiastic user of social media, she acknowledges that some of the opportunities she has received were through social media. For example, earlier this year, she performed at a Festival in Senegal, an opportunity she says came across via Facebook. Impressive. What however perhaps is the most inspiring tale is how she casually requested South African songstress Simphiwe Dana via Twitter if she could perform at one of her shows. After a few emails back and forth with the promoter, Tariro was sharing her art with Dana’s wide audience in South Africa. The power of social media.
‘She introduced me as her friend from Zimbabwe,’ quips Tariro, savouring the moment. ‘It was a truly humbling experience seeing this humble superstar humbly navigate her life.’
It’s a life lesson she takes from all of her mentors and industry friends she has met here and from lands afar.
‘Sometimes people can treat you like a star and it can easily get to your head,’ she says as we place our orders with the waiter.
‘Big artists, superstars are making positive changes so what I have learnt is that if I become successful is I should do something with it.’ To help bring into focus what she can do, and how she should do it, she is studying towards a Master’s degree in Development Studies.
Socialite, entrepreneur and founder of Hunnar Management, Gilmore Moyo says of Tariro: ‘She has a clear understanding of networking and understands her role in helping other people realise their dreams through her work.’
‘Whatever opportunity I get to share my music, I take it,’ Tariro says adding that she wants people to embrace her music.
She adds: ‘I don’t believe in superstardom overnight but rather in the law of process. I will walk the whole journey to allow myself to be a solid artist.’
Superstar Oliver Mtukudzi, one Tariro’s high profile mentors sings her praises, ‘Tariro does what she Tariro does best, is honest and that will take her to the global stage.’
With such good hands mentoring her, she sure has a bright future ahead of her.
Not that she hasn’t tried giving up on the music.
‘At one point I wanted to sell my guitar,’ she confesses.
I suggest that she is what you may call an accidental artist. She disagrees.
She believes she has always been a musician but only discovered her true passion and destiny when she connected to the higher power.
‘I am not into music for the money; there is a higher calling,’ she says sounding Zen all of a sudden. I tease her and we joke about it for a while before she affirms her strong Christian background.
A staunch Catholic, her social media sites, are regularly updated with inspirational messages and biblical verses, revealing someone who isn’t ashamed of declaring her faith.
‘I want to be one of the greatest in Africa.’ That is why she is keen on going to West Africa again, a place she terms as rich in acoustic sounds. She believes collaborative sounds will bring out something never had before, a feat she hopes will push her to the top of the musical chain.
‘Sometimes people can treat you like a star and it can easily get to your head.’
She is taking her time on working on her sophomore album which she has yet to name. ‘The sound of the second album is ready. But I am holding back going to the studio because I feel I haven’t completely explored the first album. We discover new things every time we perform. It’s that growth that I want people to keep coming back to my music for.’
Plans for an intimate DVD recording are also being mooted before she starts working on the new record.
The themes for the second album will explore her journey from where she started in music and the struggle she faces as she tries to balance motherhood, love and a career in the limelight.
Tariro and I share our dreams for the Zimbabwean arts scene. They are very wild but we are too confident in their achievability.
Tariro’s Music is honest that will take her to the global stage: Oliver Mtukudzi
We laugh at the news and share personal stories off the record. She takes my recommendation and orders a Hash Brown which she likes after one bite. I try take a bite off the steak she had ordered and I silently curse. Why I hadn’t taken her recommendation and ordered this? How could I forget that she had dabbled in hospitality before music took over?
This bubble, however has to end soon. She has to go and prepare for an acoustic performance later that afternoon.
As we go our separate ways, I can’t help but awe at this is fierce woman who embodies professionalism, humility and hard work all wrapped in her amazing voice and mean guitar work.
Zimbabwe, take note; this maybe your next great musical export.
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