UNITED States of America-based musician Lovemore "Majaivana" Tshuma has recounted some of his sad tales including how his music was not appreciated in the country but was embraced elsewhere.
Known for shying away from the media and preferring to lead a quiet life since he left the country almost two decades ago, Majaivana shared his views during an interview with YouTube channel Zazise Wide.
"My life has been a sad one, have been dealt blows below the belt. First of all it was the language that I sang in, it didn't really bring me the fortune that one expects like when you look at these other people that sing in the widely known languages.
"They get a better share of the profits. It's partly why I left music because whenever I went to collect my cheque, I saw the other cheques of people that sang in different languages, they had better cheques than mine," Majaivana said.
He added: "You might say my music was not better than theirs and after travelling a lot in places like Sweden, England, Denmark and Canada, we had full houses and at home here it was on tribal lines."
Asked if he saw any hope for things improving for musicians in Zimbabwe, Majaivana was pessimistic.
"For musicians, no I don't see any hope in my country. It's because we don't have a strong union. Whenever we try to build something, there is always something that comes up and destroys the good things, it's either people hate the person who is leading the union or they really don't have somebody they would want to have in there, so I don't see any of us making any successful union. So the plight of the musicians will always be the same."
On the issue of Zimbabwean music being supported along tribal lines Majaivana, who is now believed to be a pastor, said: "I am a man of God now, I would like to say I leave everything in the hands of our Lord up there because this thing about tribes started years ago and for me to really say I see it getting to a better situation, well I don't know, I leave it in God's hands."
While several pleas have in the past been made for music promoters or even government to facilitate Majaivana's comeback and perform even a single show, he has, however, largely ignored the appeals.
At some point, his music followers ran an online petition "Bring back Majaivana" which received support, but it all fell on deaf ears.
Majaivana is known for airing his views about his personal life through his music in which he largely complained about lack of support for his music, his troubled life and the challenges he encountered in trying to earn a better living.
At the turn of the millennium, Majaivana called it quits in the music industry. It then took a lot of persuasion by veteran producer Tymon Mabaleka for him to produce one last album for his avid followers.
Fortunately, he accepted and the album, which was released around year 2000 titled Sono Sami, became an instant hit although it was a painful farewell to his followers.
The album carried songs that speak of his personal experiences.
On the song Xolani, he asks for forgiveness from the masses but doesn't specify what crime he had committed. On the other song Angila Mali, Majaivana speaks of how he has for years struggled to earn a living while on Golide the singer tells his followers how they will miss him when he goes abroad.
