“The music bug struck me way back, during my days at primary school in Matabeleland South,” he told The Zimbabwean early this week.
“As young as I was, the choir master would from time to time instruct me to lead the choir during various concerts. When I graduated to secondary level at Manama High School, I met a friend, Desire Moyo, who introduced me to the world of theatre and acting. From that day, I fell madly in love with the arts.”
In all the plays that Moyo wrote, Ndlovu was cast as the main actor. He also composed some background music that was used in the productions, giving his talent a chance to blossom. But he got nowhere in his homeland, and crossed to South Africa in 2003, in search of greener pastures.
“In 2005, I got my first real break in acting, when I featured in the play Zero Tolerance, which was broadcast on SABC’s channel 2. Then in 2010 I did a Vodacom advert in preparation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup,” he said.
“During all that time, I did not stop composing music, which remains my first love. I made a promise to myself that I would one day make waves as a music producer of note – and that dream kept me focused.”
In 2010 he teamed up with long-time friend, Daniel Ncube, to start a recording company called Shilolo Music.
“We realised that, while Zimbabwe has a lot of singing talent, most of it kept being lost as more and more of its young people continued to move to South Africa in search of jobs, so we started this company with the sole aim of discovering raw talent and putting it to good use,” he explained.
The first artist to sign with the stable was Peggy Nare, who had abandoned music for eight years. She released her comeback album, “Uthuleleni”, early this year, with the 10 tracks composed by Ndlovu, who also produced the album. “The album is beautifully done and has been well-received in the market, where it is still hot. It was worthy of launching a record label with because it keeps the hopes high and pushes one to do even more,” said Ndlovu.
“In all this, I did not initially have the desire to be in the forefront. I was content with working behind the scenes – writing music and making things happen for artists. But certain unpleasant circumstances have made me realise that I am the only one who can do justice to my own compositions for now,” said Ndlovu, also a Radio Mthwakazi broadcaster and co-director.
“I am a man of words and I have already started to work on my debut album, whose title I cannot reveal now. Shilolo Music is working very hard to make the release of the album by the end of this month”.
“My dream is to lead a musical movement that will resuscitate and bring confidence into our music as a Zimbabwean people and that revolution begins now. I hope our people will understand this vision and give it their support.”
Post published in: Africa News