BY SHARON SIBINDI
RISING Bulawayo-based imbube outfit Ukukhanya Kwezwe is ecstatic after scooping the Best Isichathamiya Music Group award at the just-ended Amagugu Music Awards held at the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The group leader and composer Mayibongweinkosi Madihwa confirmed the developments to NewsDay Life & Style yesterday.
“The group visited Eastern Cape last year where we attended the National Arts Festival and the people loved what we presented to them. Then in February this year, they sent forms for nomination and we got nominated,” he said.
“We were the only Zimbabwean group nominated among the eight groups. Two groups remained and we were part of it and in July we went for the finals. Then the winners were announced last week when we went to South Africa to attend the award ceremony. We were presented the award and medals for each member in the group.”
Madihwa said they felt honoured to win the award against stiff competition.
“As the group we are so excited, it is not easy to come first in a foreign land. This also is a birthmark to the group and we strive to aim high. We also learnt a lot from other groups like how to market our music well. We cherish the moment and time we got as we feel this exposure has become an eye opener to the group,” he said.
Madihwa said he believes that hard work and perseverance made them win the award.
“We really pushed hard and utilised all the social media networks which helped us in scoring high. We went to the radio stations and we asked fans to vote for us and we would like to thank the fans who supported us through this,” he added.
Imbube genre is slowly beginning to gain recognition although still facing challenges like lack of promoters as well as support.
