By Fidelis Manyange

EARLIER this year, rapper Kikky Badass (real name Christabell Stembeni Mahlungwa) dissed Holy Ten as “a bad artiste as he failed to take care of all his children, unlike Enzo Ishall”.
Unperturbed, the ‘Ndotokuda’ hitmaker shot back: “Wangu, I do not give a hoot about you and your opinions, imbotanga waroorwa.’
More recently, Kikky, better known for her notoriety rather than her musical prowess, rekindled her beef with fellow hip-hop artiste Mukudzeyi Chitsama (stage name Holy Ten) by claiming the latter’s wife was involved in a string of extra-marital affairs. She went further to blame Holy Ten’s recent collapse on stage on drug abuse.
The Kikky Badass-Holy Ten ‘beef’ is just the tip of the iceberg.
Most artistes’ fallouts are based on a variety of reasons, like romantic entanglements, failed business relationships, geographical alliances, jealousy and betrayal as well as loyalty and honour. Some feuds are so petty one can easily see they are cooked and stage-managed to draw attention as a marketing gimmick.
Fading artistes can create controversy among themselves so that they start trending. Some artistes claim it’s part of art and creativity!
But the burning question is whether such tiffs are genuine or simply stage-managed to get the artistes into the limelight.
“You will not be surprised that soon after this war the two will launch new projects because they are trying to maintain their fan base through controversy,” says music analyst Masimba Kuchera, who is based in the UK, in reference to the Kikky Badass-Holy Ten dissing war.
Holy Ten has also had a tiff with fellow artiste Ti Gonzi, born Tinashe Gonzara, dating back to 2022.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Leonard Dembo did not see eye-to-eye with fellow musicians John Chibadura and Simon ‘Chopper’ Chimbetu, accusing them of using juju detrimental to his profession.
Dembo’s superstitions reached a stage where he refused to play at venues previously used by his two rivals, whom he described as ‘zvigure zvinemishonga’.
Currently, Silent Killer, real name Jimmy Mudereri, is on record as accusing fellow artiste Takura Chiwoniso, aka Blot, l To Page 16
l From Page 15
of a similar crime. The allegations stem from an incident during a recent Zimdancehall Cup clash at which the latter’s manager is accused of defecating in a car belonging to Silent Killer’s manager.
The confrontation over witchcraft allegations threatened to become physical, with Blot claiming he has engaged the services of a lawyer to address the issue.
Once upon a time, rapper Prince ‘Noble Styles’ Butawo sparked a war of words after penning a song whose lyrics were interpreted as a personal attack on comedian Carl Joshua Ncube. He later apologised, but the damage had already been done.
However, there is more to artistes’ beefs than just seeking the limelight with fights over women often hogging the headlines.
For example, back in 2014, Quonfuzed, real name McDonald Sheldon, assaulted fellow musician Tawanda Mumanyi, aka Seh Calaz, over his double-dating girlfriend.
At the height of their rivalry, sungura rivals Tongai Moyo and Alick Macheso clashed over a UK-based fan who bought her two lovers similar stage outfits. When they found this out, all hell broke loose.
But this did not stop the woman from dating the two artistes after the confrontation. In fact, this writer met the woman at the centre of the rivalry at a Chibuku Road to Fame show at Glamis Stadium, Harare, where Macheso and the late Dhewa were guest artistes.
Determined to protect his prized asset, the ‘Charakupa’ hitmaker assigned the late entertainment scribe Godwin Muzari to act as her bodyguard to keep ‘Mushina Muhombe’ at bay.
Of course, such fights are common since there are some women who are in the habit of stalking musicians in search of love, fame or fortune — or all three.
Speaking of which there are unconfirmed reports that ‘Madhau’ in Macheso’s hit track of the same name existed in real life and was dating both sungura artistes at the time. To prove her claims, the ‘Madhau’ in question showed the late Muzari some of the love text messages sent to her by the duo, who had a fierce rivalry over the years.
In what was seen as a veiled threat to his rival, Macheso warned Dhewa: “Usatore Madhuve wangu . . . siya hoo brother.” —–
Dhewa’s heir, Peter Moyo, has also been involved in multiple love triangles, one of which pitted him against Dino Mudondo.
The Moyos are, however, in good company. The late Andy Brown nearly got into a fist fight with Farai Monro, aka Cde Fatso, for reportedly dating the ‘Mapurisa’ hitmaker’s ex-wife, Chiwoniso Maraire.
In his defence, Brown argued that he had reconciled with Chiwoniso and claimed, ‘. . . anondidheerera mupfanha uyu’.
Away from affairs of the heart, some feuds emanate from unfair distribution of proceeds from royalties and shows.
A case in point is that involving Nicholas Zakaria and his Khiama Boys, including his brother Zakaria Zakaria and Alick Macheso, who he left in the cold after he locked up the band’s instruments to pursue a career as a truck driver. The two were forced to seek help from fellow artistes Shepherd Chinyani (instruments) and General Luke (transport). The tracks ‘Pakutema Munda’ and ‘Mwana Wamai Wangu’ from his emotional album ‘Magariro’ allude to Madzibaba’s ‘cruelty’.
Madzibaba hit back by recording ‘Zomvelamvela’ (gossip), thus setting the stage for a bruising battle between the sungura giants. The two did not see eye-to-eye until show promoters persuaded them to smoke the peace pipe.
Kassongo Band members, Ketai Muchawaya and Knowledge Kunenyat,i also had a massive fallout over royalties, with Kunenyati accusing band leader Muchawaya of grabbing the lion’s share.
Kunenyati left the group in a huff to form Muzokomba Movers. Kunenyati subsequently recorded ‘Baba Handishayi’, the story of two hunters who fight over a kill with one claiming his dog had done the job and was, therefore, entitled to a bigger share. The ‘greedy’ hunter is a subtle reference to Muchawaya.
Dissing each other is, however, not peculiar to Zimbabwean musicians. In the US, there have been so many ‘beefs’ among hip-hop artistes and fans, with some ending tragically. Hip-hop is a cultural movement which originated from the economically depressed African-American South Bronx section of New York City in the late 1970s. The youngsters were known for their involvement in crime. They later organised themselves into camps known as tribes and began competing in dancing and acrobatics while exchanging nasty lyrics.
Later, some organised themselves and started recording labels to market their music. Queen Latifah, Salt ‘n’ Pepa, Tupac Shakur, Dr Dre, Eminem and Snoop Dogg, among many others, are some of the successful names who put hip-hop on a higher and paying level.
The hip-hop hostilities culminated in the still unresolved murders of Tupac Shakur and the wildly gifted Notorious B.I.G. They formerly had a longstanding friendship but later became hard-core enemies. There have been so many hip-hop rivalries involving artistes like Lil Kim vs Foxy Brown, Nas versus Jay-Z, 50 Cent versus Ja Rule, Card B versus Nicki Minaj, Eminem versus The Source, Drake versus Meek Mill and many more.
It seems it is within their culture in hip-hop that conflicts should be part of the game and is an art. However, this can degenerate into serious confrontations, fights and shootings if left unchecked.
Closer to home, two top local artistes have agreed to ‘stay enemies’ to keep themselves in business. But that’s a story for another day.