Meet underrated musician, Real Shona Real Shona

Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Reporter

IN the heart of one of the country’s oldest suburb Tshabalala in the City of Kings and Queens is home to one of the most underrated artistes, Real Shona (born Promise Ngonidzashe Chirodzero).

In the streets, some may say he is a newbie, but that is not the case with the new age urban artiste who is flying high, not only in Bulawayo but across cities and towns of Zimbabwe.

His versatility is shown in the genre he does which he calls urban new age. It is an umbrella term for an artiste who does dancehall, hip-hop and Afro and can switch genres.

Born in Bulawayo and bred in Mutare and Bulawayo is how Real Shona grew. He was to later land in the music sphere where he released his debut music offering in 2018.

His story of joining music and standing out as one of the most followed artistes in Bulawayo on social media platforms is an interesting one in which he gave a glimpse to the Chronicle Showbiz in an interview.

Real Shona said he fell in love with songwriting as young as Grade 2 during the era of urban grooves.

Real Shona

“I think I was born with this. I remember I first tried writing my first song when I was in Grade 2 inspired by the urban grooves era. My dad had this small radio speaker that he would play cassettes with so I’d spend most of my time listening to music.

“In 2013, I met the Rapsoldiers and these guys had a CD complication which captured me since I had never been in the studio my whole life,” he said.

Real Shona said such an experience made him curious to jump into the studio and record.

“I asked if we could do a collaboration and they agreed. That was the first time I got into the studio to record and after that, I joined the group. Later on, I decided to start my own group called the DreamPushers where I was called Proba. We recorded a couple of songs together,” said Real Shona.

He said what was to follow was a recording deal with a studio in Luveve called LV5 Entertainment owned by GeekyM.

“I did a couple of singles under the stable and met different people that helped me to understand the industry. In 2016, I met Gucci at Nkulumane High School where I did my secondary. Gucci was part of one of the biggest Hip-hop groups to ever come up in Bulawayo called Upperklass which I later joined and rebranded. I took up the name ShaggaBoy,” he said.

Real Shona said one of their hit songs stayed on the charts for six weeks on Skyz Metro FM award-winning hip-hop show which was hosted by Thorne Laroq and after that, he decided to go solo.

“In 2018 I realised it was time for me to move on and do something by myself and build my own brand. That’s when I met Thubalihle Ncube, a man I appreciate for always keeping it real with me as he helped me shape my brand as a manager.

“As a brand, my journey has been sweet and painful. I’ve seen it all, but I’m still going strong. I love doing music and it’s the only thing I’m certain about. I was born for this and I believe I’ll be the greatest to ever come out of Zimbabwe and the whole world,” said Real Shona.

He said his recent offering, an EP titled Chibaba Chembudzi that was released last year will be launched through tours nationwide.

“The EP has tracks, Taka Charger, Ndeip, Potato, Cool Down (nechibhodhoro) and Pirori.”

Real Shona dropped eight singles in 2018 and the following year he dropped two singles, the same as 2020. – @mthabisi_mthire

 

 

You Might Also Like

Comments