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Showbiz Reporter
AFTER thrilling music lovers at a New Year’s Eve gig at the King Solomon Hotel in Kwekwe last year, United Kingdom-based Zimbabwean dancehall/reggae DJ Kivo Santana will be returning to the gold mining city next month for another show at the same venue.

The DJ (real name Cornelius Kelvin Makanza), who was partly raised in Kwekwe and has been promoting Zimdancehall in Europe for years, said the event, which they have named the Reggae/Dancehall Reunion, would be held on October 13.

It will feature Zimdancehall artistes and DJs from Harare and the Midlands province including ZiJudgement Yard (DJ 2 Bad and Abisha Palmer) and Gweru’s DJ Brian among many others.

Kivo, who is not new to showbiz in Kwekwe as he once ran a popular club in Redcliff called Pendo in the 90s before relocating to the UK, said they were hosting the event at King Solomon’s due to public demand.

“Solomon’s Café at the Solomon’s Hotel is undeniably the most happening spot in Kwekwe currently. When we played there in December last year, the event was a resounding success with many fans pleading with us to host another dancehall event.

“We’ve heeded their call and are glad to be travelling to Kwekwe next month to reunite with fans there,” he said.

Kivo said he had a soft spot for Kwekwe as it is his hometown.“I want to give back to the society that contributed to my uplifting instead of just going to perform in the major cities like Harare and Bulawayo.

“By taking high profile events to Kwekwe, we’ll also be decentralising entertainment and I’m glad to be part and parcel of this movement.”

Also, Kivo, an IT Infrastructure engineer in the UK who takes deejaying as a hobby, said his focus was on promoting, especially, up-and-coming artistes.

“I get a lot of dubplates (exclusive tunes) from Zimdancehall artistes such as Freeman, Delroy, and Killamani from Kwekwe and I play their music here to try and popularise them.

“The Harare-based Zi-Judgement Yard duo of Abisha Palmer and 2 Bad usually gets overshadowed in Harare so I feel they can grow more if they get to perform more outside Harare. This way, they’ll be able to build and promote their brand so that when they return to Harare, they’ll be bigger,” he said. While he is a versatile DJ, Kivo plays more dancehall music because of its message.

“I was attracted to dancehall/reggae music because of its message of empowering blacks like the likes of Bob Marley. I’m versatile but dancehall is my calling.”

Many in Bulawayo will remember DJ Kivo from three years ago when he performed at the then Club Eden alongside former BBC1 reggae DJ Chris Goldfinger.