Blessing shumba a new Gospel Singer to watch

The Buhera-born, fast-rising gospel sensation, Blessing Shumba, might be a newcomer to gospel music circles, but his songs have litWith only two albums to date – Ishe Wazvose and NdiMwari – Shumba’s deep Manyika accent has become a common feature on the local airwaves.

Hama, Zita, Mufaro, Mabasa, Ndouya Nei?, Nhaka and Titeme Timene make up the power-packed album which was recorded and distributed by Metro Studios. “These are clearly the works of God. I wouldn’t have come this far without the grace of God. I’m overwhelmed by the support my album (NdiMwari) is getting both on radio and from the public.”
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For him, singing gospel music is “not an option, but a calling,” having grown up in religious family where his father was a pastor of the Mugodhi Apostolic Church. The 32-year-old said the tragic death of his father in 2008 benchmarked his musical career. “It was in 2008 when I lost my father that everything changed. For some reason the grief inspired me to record my first song, Kurwa Kwakanaka, which was followed by Handina Mhaka.

“I met Nathaniel Ncube from National FM, gave him the songs and the rest is history,” said Shumba adding that: “Nathaniel later called me and urged me to record an album after he started receiving overwhelming play requests for my songs (Kurwa Kwakanaka and Handina Mhaka).”

Shumba managed to record four more songs, Vana Sesu, Ndangariro, Kudzai Kuroorana and Vachaiteiko to make his debut six track album released in 2009. The album is also on DVD, which was released in April this year. However, Shumba said he was yet to reap the financial benefits of his works since his music had suffered the plague of piracy.

“Police should arrest all offenders of the copyright law. Yes there have been some arrests recorded here and there, but they should go a step further in enforcing the law. Look at South African authorities, they are putting their feet down against music piracy. “Our legislators should put proper laws that protect our music and those statutes should be followed,” he said.erally taken over the local mainstream music scene.