The Phenomenon That Is Leornard Dembo

Every time that the music of Leonard Dembo plays in any public gathering around Zimbabwe, one is bound to notice the dance floor easily filling up with a cross generation of revelers. Dembo was arguably Zimbabwe’s popular musician who managed to break all sales records and inspired generations beyond his lifetime. His appeal to a cross section of the society from the young to the old, his deep social commentary endeared him to the public psyche in a manner that crowned him the Godfather of afro pop sungura music laced with some rumba sounds.

Often in every society a new sound arises giving birth to a fresh genre of music and Dembo’s music was that fresh feel in the Zimbabwean landscape. He came into the industry when contemporaries such as the Chimbetu brothers, Jonah Moyo, the Marxist brothers and Maungwe brothers and even Zex Manatsa were rocking the nation and his sound still managed to break the ceiling and stood a cut above the rest. His phenomenon was that of Bob Marley with Reggae and Tupac Shakur with Hip Hop rap. Dembo’s use of two strong electric guitars with a hard-hitting bass laced with lyrics that exuded positivity in their social commentary produced a new sound which some termed a Zimbabwean version of rumba and some still thought a different version of sungura, but however the critics looked at it in the end it was brilliant.

His success saw him churning hit after hit with the greatest of them all Chitekete coming through in 1991 after a five year stint in the industry. Chitekete (https://bit.ly/4iV07sU) sold more than 100,000 copies in the first month of its release, breaking all records at the time, a fete never repeated again. The song virtually became an unofficial national anthem and graced weddings, parties and even went international as it was played at the miss world pageant in 1995 held in Namibia a year before his death. Backed by the ‘Barura Express’, Dembo managed from his debut album Nhamo Moto in 1986 to map a new frontier in terms of the local sound churning hit after hit with every offering that he gave. His impressive discography included: Mai ne Vana vavo (1984), Nhamo Moto (1986), Kuziva Mbuya Huudzwa (1987), Sharai (1987), Kukura Kwedu (1988), Ruva Rashe (1989), Kukura Hakutani (1990), Chitekete (1991), Tinokumbira Kurarama /Madhiri(1992), Mazano (1993), Kutinya Marimba(1993), Nzungu Ndamenya (1994), Paw paw (1994), Shiri Yakangwara (1995) and Babamunini (1996). (https://shorturl.at/LsV5K)

His music rarely touched on the politics of the time, preferring instead to delve deeply in the individual struggles of each and every one of us (https://bit.ly/4lgN5HL). This in effect made Dembo’s audiences feel that he was singing to each and every one in a rather personal way thus creating a following of a religious fashion. His lyrics which he fused with Shona idioms and proverbs had deep seated meanings that fully addressed the social stratification of Zimbabwe at the time. A society that was in the early stages of feeling the strain of economic dependency on government subsidies, a government that eventually took the structural adjustment route. The strain that most Zimbabweans felt was fully articulated like in songs such as ‘Manager’, ‘Madhiri’ and ‘Kugaro roja.’ This shrewd craftiness in his lyrics earned him the title ‘Musoro wenyoka’ loosely translated head of a snake in allusion to the cunning instincts embedded in a snake.

Today, Dembo’s prodigies are the maestros of our current time. From Tongai Moyo, Alick Macheso, First Farai and to a certain extent his name-sake Leonard Zhakata, all these hold the sungura music scene in Zimbabwe with such a presence such that everywhere they play is a guaranteed full house. Dembo still influences the social strata of Zimbabwe and the recent crises that the country went through during the past decade have made Dembo’s lyrics and music ever more relevant. His is music which when it was released drove the audience wild and now in retrospect draws feelings of awe and admiration from the current generation (https://bit.ly/4lmBCqh). His are now classics that the connoisseur of truly good sound will feel a sense of guilt if they do not have Dembo in their permanent collection.