Yester year singer Tendai Chidarike says music career not over

Tendai Chidarikire

Lively musician Tendai “Sasa” Chidarikire says his music career has not taken a backseat despite his involvement in acting and television commercials.

Chidarikire known for his yesteryear hits such as Muzezuru, Ndiringe and Tarenda (Never Surrender), made the remarks after performing at the Harare Sports Bar in Harare last week. He said he dedicated most of the last six years to television commercials and acting.

“I left the music scene and went into acting. I got roles on popular South African soapies and did a number of television commercials,” said the self-assured Chidarikire.

The Chinhoyi-born artiste, who credits the late Tendai Mupfurutsa, Andy Brown and Safirio Madzikatire for helping him venture into music, said the Zimbabwean music industry has not grown much since 2007 when he left for South Africa.

 “Local musicians should open doors to a wider scope of music and play around with various music genres. The music has not really grown. If you look at South Africa, their music has evolved from pantsula, digong etc to tribal house. 

With Zimbabwean music our sungura music has not changed much. Our artistes should do more to add some diversity to our music,” he said.

The multi-talented Chidarikire, who is equally good at both singing and guitar-playing, added that his music has evolved significantly ever since he ventured into the industry in the 1990s.

“I have come a long way. I came from the small town of Chinhoyi and had been invited to perform at Summer Slam in Harare. I came out tops and that marked the beginning of my music career. I remember going to a concert where the Rusike Brothers were performing in 1996. 

I went up to the stage and asked Kenny Rusike if I could perform one song. They were impressed by my performance and asked me to move to Harare then I became part of the talent search competition called Starbrite,” he said.

Chidarikire recorded the track Zezuru (2000) and Ndiringe(2001) with the late Mupfurutsa’s High Density Records.

Both tracks were instrumental in giving him a national profile. He went on to release the albums Tarenda (Never Surrender) in 2002 and Sasa International two years later.

Source – Daily News