Otis Ngwabi to retrace Bulawayo roots

Langalakhe Mabena
South Africa- based veteran Afro fusion artiste Otis Ngwabi feels there is a need for him to reconnect with his Bulawayo roots as the city moulded him to be the gem he is today.

After he relocated in search of greener pastures in Jozi, Ngwabi revealed that it was not easy for him to finally find his groove in the music industry in Mzansi.

His collaboration with Umlazi rap guru Zulu Boy and Bella on the song Nomzamo announced his arrival in Mzansi’s music industry.

“To adjust into the South African music industry has been a process that needs patience and hard work. You must be smart so as to gain knowledge on how the industry works, otherwise I am more than lucky to be working with big artistes this side,” said Ngwabi.

As if that was not enough, he recently teamed up with hot property producer DJ Zwesta SA on the song Buyisela which is making waves both in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

As he has established his stand in Jozi, Ngwabi revealed to B-Metro that he was on a mission to reconnect with his Bulawayo roots and he was going to achieve that through collaborating with local artistes with Soul songbird Qeqeshiwe Mntambo as one of the favourites.

“I am a Bulawayo boy and no one can take that away from me. Therefore, to reconnect with my roots I am willing to do collaborations with Bulawayo-based artistes including Qeqe, Cool Crooners and Jeys Marabini.

However, Ngwabi believes that little effort is made especially by promoters and radio stations to engage Bulawayo artistes in staging shows that benefit both artistes and promoters.

“I know for a fact that Bulawayo harbours talent and it is rich and original in its sound, but we need to see more of radio DJs playing local music and promoters have to run shows that feature more of local artistes so that everyone benefits,” said Ngwabi.

This comes as local artistes are struggling to fend for themselves due to the Covid-19 lockdown which saw the staging and exhibition of performances and shows banned.

In his career spanning over 15 years, Ngwabi boasts of three albums, four singles and three collaborations with the latest one being Buyisela featuring Zwesta SA.

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