By Fidelis Manyange

AS the country continues to celebrate Culture Week under the theme ‘African Royalty: Our Heritage’, I have decided to focus on one of Zimbabwe’s cultural music genres pfonda which has stood the test of time.

Pfonda, popularly known as jiti, is celebratory in nature and played mainly during marriage celebrations, victory celebrations, bumper harvests, traditional ceremonies and many other cultural events.

The songs are usually satirical, with a hidden meaning, and a good selection of words of a praise or counselling.

The boys demonstrate their drum beating, composing and singing skills while girls also exhibit their dancing skills as well as their melodious voices as they outdo each other in gyrating their bottoms to the tempo of the drum.

Culturally, jiti or pfonda is performed during the night and is characterised mainly by drum beating, melodies and dance.

The drum beating and singing is also fused with dances like kongonya, honda, chipisi and, nowadays, bhorodhero.

Jiti has managed to withstand the test of time like mbende or jerusarema. 

Both are concentrated around the Zezuru people.

Murehwa is one area which remains popular with the two. 

Jiti has managed to form the basis of sungura music through its drum tempo and lyrical content.

Unlike Simon and Naison Chimbetu’s Marxist Brothers and Kassongo Band’s sungura whose music is dominated by kanindo or kamba benga music of West Africa, Tineyi Chikupo, Ephraim Joe, Cephas Karushanga, John Chibadura, Sherpherd Musekiwa, Farai Brothers, Paul Mpofu, Mitchell Jambo and many other artistes’ sungura is dominated by jiti or pfonda. 

Jiti music can be fused with all the instruments and still retain the flavour.

James Chimombe churned out several hit jiti songs; prominent among them being ‘Mujubheki’ in which he used saxophones and trumpets.

Tineyi Chikupo, who hailed from Chikupo Village in Murehwa, is one of the artistes who popularised jiti music in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Chikupo fused the village pfonda with guitars to come up with a fast beat sungura which appealed to music fans countrywide. 

Chikupo, a well-known son of a rain-supplicator who resided in Chikupo Village, was known for his composing, singing and dancing skills in traditional ceremonies in Murehwa. 

At Chumachangu Business Centre, he was known for dancing into the night to the delight of local revellers.

Those were the days when the Dzumbunu Choir, which hailed from Goromonzi’s Arcturus area, became popular on the then Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation now ZBC (Radio Zimbabwe).

Dzumbunu Choir recorded jiti music in its raw form at the studios’ premises in Mbare.  

Chumachangu is a few kilometres from Bhora or Juru Growth Point, the place which became a haven for many sungura musicians including Zexie Manatsa, Cephas Mashakada, Nicholas Zacharia, Alick Macheso and System Tazvida.

That is the place which acted as a springboard to Chikupo’s music career until he moved to Mverechena Business Centre in Domboshawa, another haven of sungura music of that time, where he met the likes of Simon and Naison Chimbetu, John Chibadura, Shepherd Chinyani and many others.

While there, he teamed up with Morton Dzumbunu of Mawonera Stars, which later became Mverechena Stars, when he produced the popular jiti songs like ‘Chamunorwa rega kurowa amai’, ‘Sirivhiya hande kumagobo’, ‘Hama dzapera’ and others.

John ‘Chibadura’ Nyamukokoko had also joined the outfit as one of the lead vocalists.

Because of jiti music, Chikupo, known for donning a black and white skirt on stage, became a regular winner in the ‘best performer of the month’ competitions ahead of the late Oliver Mtukudzi, Zexie Manatsa and Thomas Mapfumo, among others.  

The competitions were usually held at Rufaro Stadium.

When these songs became hits on local radio stations, many other artistes began to confidently play fused sungura and recording it.

Teal and Gallo, recording companies of that time, started accepting and recording such music after seeing its success on the local market and airplay.

The late Ephraim Joe, seeing the power of jiti music, adapted it to his sungura, which earned him the title ‘King of Sungura’. 

Chibadura, Cephas Karushanga, Job Mashanda, Jacob Teguru and Paul Mpofu also followed suit.

Susan Mapfumo is one of the females who navigated successfully in the male-dominated sungura genre with her rich jiti lyrics.

Ruth Tiribhoyi, now married to fellow artiste Rodrick Chemudhara, also ventured into jiti music.

Female acoustic guitarist Priscilla Matongo made a mark with her jiti song ‘Musarovane’.

These divas defied the belief that women should confine themselves to being dancers and backing vocalists in jiti music. 

One of the songs which undoubtedly made a gigantic footprint in popularising jiti music locally and beyond our boarders, especially in the neighbouring Mozambique, is ‘Murambinda’ by Paul Mpofu. 

He fused many jiti songs to come up with one strong song.

Paul Mpofu replaced the traditional mutumba drum with his bass guitar which imitated the drum.

Now, many sungura artistes have also adapted the bass guitar to the functions of the drum. 

These include the likes of Alick Macheso, Somandla Ndebele, Freddy ‘Kapfupi’ Manjalima, Simon Mutambi and Obvious Mutani, among others. 

Kapfupi and Braveman Chizvino Mawanza, aka ‘Baba Harare’ have scored it big on the local music market through jiti. 

Kapfupi’s career took a turn for the better through the Mutoko-composed song ‘Chikwama Chababa’, while Baba Harare was catapulted to the top by the two jiti songs ‘The reason why’ and ‘Ramba wakadzvanya’.

Some artistes based in the Diaspora are increasingly and successfully introducing jiti music in the respective countries they are based. 

The power of jiti must never be underestimated.