Shona connects me with my roots: Mistreey

By Evans Dakwa

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Language is a very important element of one’s culture and separating the former from the latter is akin to disowning one’s identity and a down fall for many artists, a local upcoming rapper Mistreey  has said.

Speaking in an interview, the 30-year-old rapper said singing in the local Shona language connects him to his culture and gives him identity as a Zimbabwean in the music industry.

“I am proudly Zimbabwean and rapping in Shona gives me my identity as musician, it is a shame that there are other upcoming musicians who are not proud of their language and end up Westernizing their music and fail to stand the heat,” he said.

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Mistreey added that failure to have an identity has been the biggest undoing for most budding artist hence his desire to follow in the footsteps of music greats like the late Dr Oliver Mtukudzi and Chimurenga music guru Thomas Mapfumo who sang in Shona but still made an impact internationally.

” The late Dr Oliver Mtukudzi and Dr Thomas Mapfumo inspire me a lot, they had an identity, a Zimbabwean identity singing in Shona but still left the world clamouring for more of their music, we should strive to emulate these as young musicians if we are to go international with our music,” .continued Mistreey.

The humble Mistreey whose real name is Ronald Nyamusure, has released the single titled Kura which features the melodious voice of young lady Mandy and produced by Leekay and Bleqboi.

According to him, Kura is a song that seeks to inspire young people to organize themselves and lay the foundation for their future whilst in their youths to cushion and prepare them for  challenges that come with adulthood.

Listening to Kura one can tell maturity and a build up from Mistreey’s first two albums Puzzle Pieces and Missing Pieces. The vocal infusion and deep Shona lyrics are testament to the upward trajectory and maturity in music for the artist.

The native Afro pop (what he calls his music) singer is currently working on his third offering which is being preceded by the single Kura and if the single is a taste of what is to come, his fans can whet their appetite and get ready for feasty meal of an album that will be sure to quench their musical appetite.

Mistreey