Melissa Mpofu, Showbiz Editor
SOUTH African sensational singer Busiswa Gqulu has teamed up with local superstar Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi to produce a party track, Gidah, which will likely be a club banger.
The track and its music video released yesterday were recently put together by Coke Studio of South Africa whose core business is to promote musicians by facilitating collaborations. The video and its production can be viewed on video sharing site – YouTube or on the Coke Studio website – www.cokestudio.co.za. It is now available for download on Apple music store -iTunes.
No Sam Mataure or Oskido involved, the track fused young and old, bringing together artistes who have never worked together. With the help of award-winning South African music producers, the song which has a jazzy feel is opened by Tuku’s signature guitar which is instantly followed by
Busiswa, the Kalawa Chikita who introduces herself and Tuku as well the countries they are from.
The party track preaches unity as it urges people to unite in song and dance.
“Ndoda kutamba, sifun’ukugida. . . Mwachewe huya tigarisane, sifun’ubumnandi, sifun’ukugida. Zimbabwe, South Africa halala,” are some of the catchy lyrics of the track which was recorded and produced in three days.
Explaining the song, Tuku said its purpose was to give life and hope to the people.
“This song is meant to heal broken hearts. Africans use music to defuse tension. Music is joy so we use joy to eradicate pain. I’m sure our song is going to fuse something new as it has old and new styles,” Tuku said.
“In the song I’m saying I want to be happy, I want to dance but you can’t have fun all alone so let’s unite and be happy. ‘Toda kufara, ndoda kutamba, ndiri ndega zvakona, why why huyai – everybody come let’s have fun’.”
But before getting down to business, 63-year-old Tuku who has 63 albums to his name, had to share kind words and coach Busiswa, assuring her that she was a talented artiste as she seemed jittery when she first met him at the Coke studios. From time to time, she felt insecure of her vocal range in comparison to Tuku’s powerful voice and decades of experience.
“It’s a new experience; we all don’t know the song. We’re all learning the song and trying to create something new, so we’re at the same level,” Tuku told Busiswa as they prepared to take to the MIC’s.
“Try and do what you look down upon because you’re not doing it for yourself, but for us. When you sing, you’re not going to do so in a shower but for us, so just do so.”
After warming up to Tuku, realising that the legend was more of a father than superstar, Busiswa who sang the popular Ngoku house track, finally found her groove and said: “Collaborating with a living legend is very interesting because I thought it’ll be very intimidating, the whole I know and you don’t. But Tuku is actually one of the most warm artistes I’ve ever gotten to work with.”
Besides her native Zulu, Busiswa did parts of the song in Shona: “Huya tigarisane, huya titambe. . . Sifun’ubumnandi, sifun’ukugida. Mara Oliver dlala lo guitar. Don’t worry ukujaiva is for mahala,” are some of Busiswa’s lyrics.
Busiswa added that she got along well with Tuku after discovering that they were on the same wavelength as they both preach positivity in their works.
“We’re concentrating on live and let live. Let’s have a better tomorrow, let’s have fun,” Tuku told Busiswa and Coke Studio producers.
After the recording, Tuku said he had learnt that: “You don’t have to be shy if you’ve something that you want. If you’re open, it makes the whole job easier.”
Busiswa said Tuku had inspired her, showing her the possibility of who she could become.
Coke Studio, a music reality show which launched on eTV in August following its success in Brazil and Pakistan, allows viewers to see some of the best African musicians getting together to create hit songs from scratch with the help of award-winning South African music producers. Artistes from different music genres are paired up in the Coke Studio and given three days to create tracks, fusing different music styles. Besides Tuku and Busiswa, artistes who have teamed up so far include Mi Casa and Cassper Nyovest, Mathew Gold and Bongo Riot.