Misfortune trails Tryson Chimbetu

Tryson Chimbetu

“I OUGHT to have died that day. I cheated death by God’s grace. By now you should have long written my obituary. Certainly it was the work of Satan but through the name of the Almighty we defeated him and his advocate(s),” said dendera musician Tryson Chimbetu as he narrated his April 23 accident ordeal.

Despite successfully taking over from where his late father left, Naison Chimbetu’s son Tryson has faced many challenges in his short career. The dendera crooners’ life can aptly be described as real-life drama.

It has been a case of one misfortune after the other and the simple phrase “peace of mind” seems to hardly exist in Tryson’s life. 

Just last week, the musician was involved in a horrific accident soon after sharing the stage with music legend Oliver Mtukudzi at Joy Centre in Highfield. Tryson aka Sekuru Dhimba, suffered injuries on his right leg in an accident that destroyed his car.

Circumstances surrounding the accident can have one pardoned for easily concluding calamity trails Tryson or vice versa. Instead of going home after his performance in the wee hours of the day in question, the musician decided to play good citizen, a decision that almost cost him dearly.

“The police asked me to assist them transport some culprits who had started a fracas and I complied. It was on my way back from the police station that I found myself in an unenviable situation. My car was hit by a speeding driver on the rear as I wanted to turn right. If I wasn’t alert, the speeding and reckless driver would have smashed into the driver’s door where I was sitting,” explained a visibly dejected Tryson.

Interestingly the musician believes “juju” is at play and hints at the person he believes is responsible for all the predicaments he finds himself in but has no guts to name him. He only says it is a male relative.

In 2012 Tryson made headlines when he collapsed on stage at Jongwe Corner and suggested it was the work of goblins sent to him by his detractors. The following year, he was involved in a “freaky” accident in Banket.

As if not enough, thieves broke into his then Glen View home a few months after the Banket incident. He alleges the robbers targeted mainly his musical equipment, a cellphone (which had unrecorded compositions) and a few household items.

On the music side it has not been smooth either.

Most music critics and the artiste himself believe to be a misfortune, events of 2013 when Sekuru Dhimba released his fourth studio album “Compass”, carrying tracks like “Ndondo”, “Pahotera” and “Bhora Mberi” only to be swept aside by cousin brother Sulu. 

Tryson’s album featured Oliver Mtukudzi and Peter Moyo. The project was clearly set to usher in a new era in the dendera musician’s life considering the quality of the work. But unfortunately his cousin Suluman “Sulu” Chimbetu had done enough to keep most of the limelight through the release of “Syllabus” that had the chartbusting track “Sean Timba” featuring Jah Prayzah.

That was not the end.

In the same year, Sekuru Dhimba was dumped by three key players of instruments who had helped push his brand to competitive levels especially during live gigs. Among the lost guitarists were Papa Tongo and one only identified as Alberto.

Maybe when he sang the lyrics “Mai ini ndaiwona ndondo, kukura handaiziva, kukura ndaiwona nhamo…” off the song “Ndondo”, he was openly admitting calamities in his life.

Tryson says detractors have tried destroying his work yet they are busy copying his art. He distanced himself from copycats but instead said he is a victim of such characters (copycats).

“Talent is God’s gift. You can only be you. People say I sing like Simon (Chimbetu) but that is wrong. I sing with my voice. I can sing like Simon or Naison but I still have my unique identity,” he said.

Adds Tryson: “Some copied our lyrics days/weeks or so after we released the hit song “Chihera Vhura Door” and started singing Lisa Vhura door. Automatically it means they are fans of our work and we will continue giving them new stuff so that they feed on it.”

And Tryson is not done yet.

He argues his latest offering “Victory (Ballon d’Or)”, has been well received and has put him ahead of the rest. In fact, he argues that it is the reason why during the Sungura vs Zim dancehall football match he managed to attract a healthy crowd for his gig at Joy Centre a venue that is adjacent to Gwanzura where all top artistes were performing.

“People stampeded to come to my show after the football match. Police could not contain the stampede and they ended up running away. I was competing against all top artistes but I held my own. The owner of the venue recorded record beer sales on the day in question and that should explain much,” remarked Tryson.

Source-Sunday Mail