Passion and perseverance have kept Sabelo Mukuhlan...

Passion and perseverance have kept Sabelo Mukuhlane going in music industry

Michael Mashiri

The past 10 years have seen many genres facing challenges when it comes to support since the advent of the Zimdancehall genre.

Many artistes of note have decided to abandon their genres in pursuit of fans as well as to ensure they stayed relevant while others have even went to the extremes of looking for collaborations with Zimdancehall artistes.

Bars, joints that used to be filled to capacity have lately witnessed changing fortunes and dwindling numbers as many youths opt to join the Zimdancehall craze.

Despite the craze, there are others individuals who believe that continuity and persistence always yields fruit.

This is the view held by rising gospel musician, Sabelo Mukuhlane.

Mukuhlane, who was born in the middle 80s, a very shy preacher who normally hid away from eye contact and was scared of standing in front of crowds.

The artiste, who has one album and several singles under his belt, believes that in as much as gospel music faces serious competition from other genres such as Zimdancehall and sungura, there is a drive that pushes the musician to do his job as putting money before passion is a sure path to disappointment.

In an interview with Zim Now, Mukuhlane highlighted that drawing inspiration from fellow artistes might be disappointing.

The gospel crooner believes that unity is crucial but there is need for attitude change towards fellow artistes as everyone has his market, which has potential to inspire people in different ways.

“I love music, l love singing, l sing when am cooking, bathing, singing is actually within me. What made me an artist is because l am good at writing music. I started writing music and told someone about it and he encouraged me to record. That is what made me an artiste. I enjoy ministering to people, there are moments you sing and you see people becoming spiritual, and l like that.

“I get my inspiration from reading the Word of God. I love the Word of God. l also love listening to people’s stories, thus I am always on social media, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, seeing what people are doing. If l tell you that there is an artiste that inspired me, l will be lying, because there are artistes l thought inspired me but when l approached them, l got very negative comments. I then just told myself that l should not draw inspiration from people, but rather from my surroundings and Word of God,” he said.

Having challenges such as financial has not derailed Mukuhlane’s focus and passion for music.

There are moments he takes money meant for his children’s upkeep in order to push his career as promoters will be scarce.

“For me to have a show, l need to pay the band and that compromises our quality of music, instead of me going with a full band, l will be forced to have a half or a quarter of the band because the little money paid for us to perform. If you decide to select shows you are interested in going, you might not be able to get any,” he said.

The musician said the development of the music industry was not that visible in Zimbabwe because of a number of factors.

“The industry is growing, but it’s growing underground. If you go to big broadcasters and they play for you their top 20, your choice of the top 20 songs will be different.

“If you go on YouTube or in studios, you will hear different good music compared to the ones considered to be the top music.

“If you go out on the street and ask the same song that was on number one in the radio ratings, you ask if the people know the musician or the music they will tell you they do not know it and yet it’s supposed to be the other way round. The music in the street is supposed to be the one topping the radio charts,” he added.

According to Mukuhlane, the challenges are unending. At times, the producers might just record and leave, but his love for God is the only thing that has kept him going for the past 10 years.

The Ndibatei Ruoko singer said he was motivated by the comments he usually read on social media of people appreciating the power of his music in their lives as some would be given hope from their various life-threatening situations.

Mukuhlane has worked with a number of gospel artistes, including McDonald Chidavaenzi, Francis Juma, Nyasha Mutonhori and her husband, and has managed to maintain a good and fruitful relationship with other artistes.

His view on collaborations is that in as much as it is good to work with other artistes, there are others with bigger names with a tendency of neglecting a project he would have done with an upcoming artiste. At the end of the day, nothing materialises from that collaboration, Mukuhlane said.

He however, said he had great respect some musicians.

“l respect Minister Mahendere, Baba Manyeruke, Baba Charamba, Juma he is a very flexible man,” he said.

He hoped that after five years, he would have managed to come up with his own studio where he would record without having to go to any producer.

This, he believes, will make his name bigger.