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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent 

SUNGURA maestro Alick Macheso this week caught the eye of female music lovers when he featured on Freeman’s Ngaibake music video. 

In a bright yellow summer shirt with floral print, wide brim hat and black jeans, Macheso showed another side of his artistry as he looked the part of a don on the video which was released on Thursday. 

Women in particular, made an observation of how Extra Basso cleaned up well on the video of the song taken off Freeman’s latest album, Gango.

 One fan, Vimbai Christine Shangazhike, said: “Nhai Freeman . . . Baba Shero makavaitei kuita kamucheese boy. Good job guys.”

Another Munashe Munashe said: “Macheso on this video is like Idris.”

For years, Macheso’s fans had been urging him to record music videos and this feature was a welcome surprise. The last music video he featured in was 12 years ago and the Ngaibake video was way different from the music videos people grew up watching. Those with Harare as a background, next to mountains or shooting in a park are definitely a thing of the past for Macheso as he has been introduced to the latest trends.

 Other fans on Macheso’s Facebook fan page suggested that he rebrands in order to appeal to a younger audience.

“Great collabo Macheso. I think you should re-brand this way to market your music to the younger generation. In this video, you looked exquisite, younger, vibrant and definitely ecstatic.

“I wish to see that in your music. Down with the predictable long songs,” said one Ngoni Oswards. 

Another fan commended Freeman for helping Baba Shero appeal to more fans.

“You have done a splendid job on the video and song. You are very talented, but you seem to have been singing for one market. This has opened doors to the other group that never listened to you. 

“The world has changed and people now spend more time at home watching videos on YouTube etc. So doing a quality video is always going to make an impact. You do not have videos on YouTube; the ones that are there have poor quality and do not show the best of you. 

“As a promoter, I have always failed to justify bringing you to our gigs because you were failing to connect with our target market. I can safely say do two or four songs in that genre (Zimdancehall) with quality videos then the sky is the limit,” suggested one Fred Matenga.

Macheso’s vocals on the song undeniably brought it to life and that is what the beauty of music collaborations brings. 

Freeman’s collaboration with Macheso went along with the name of his singles collection Gango, which in Zimbabwean terms is a meal that’s a mixture of different types of meat. The music video also was a mixture as it had comedians Madam Boss and Mai TT with Joe Cole doing the choreography and a cameo appearance by Macheso’s dancer Majuice.

There was also something that was a first on the music video. Its producer, Blaqs, made a cameo appearance. It’s very rare for music video producers to show their faces on productions they created. However, as someone who always breaks rules and norms, Blaqs made a cameo appearance. — @bonganinkunzi.