When a city gets its moment, you'd expect its own artists to be part of it. Masvingo had a big September. It hosted the country's main tourism trade fair and welcomed back scheduled Air Zimbabwe flights for the first time in years. One of its rappers had been preparing for exactly that.
Doldo, the stage name of Macdonald Gwenya, spent the start of the month promoting a new four-track EP. Two of its songs were written as love letters to his home town.
An EP that doubles as an invitation
Midweek-Watch, which spoke to Doldo on 1 September, describes the EP as a blend of hip-hop, reggae and dancehall, with all four tracks made alongside a reggae and dancehall artist. Two of the songs are about Masvingo itself. Doldo framed them as a show of pride in the city and, in his words, "an open invitation" to come and see the Ancient City.
The other two tracks go in a different direction. Stuck is aimed at the clubs, for partygoers and people in love, and Pauri is a slower love song written for couples. It's a small release, but a deliberately varied one, with something for the dance floor and something for the tourism brochure.
This isn't his first outing. His earlier EP, Royal Singles, carried the songs Pakuda Cash and Southern Comfort, both of which have videos on YouTube.
The expo he was aiming for
Doldo told Midweek-Watch he wanted to perform the new songs at the tourism expo. That was an ambition, not a confirmed booking. The Observer reported that the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority would stage the 19th Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo in Masvingo from 9 to 12 September, at the Gymkhana Events and Conference Centre.
When the expo arrived, the big entertainment slots went to national names. Gemnation reported that Alick Macheso headlined the Tourism and Culture Night on 11 September, and Doldo doesn't appear on the published line-ups we could find. He may well have played somewhere during the week, but there's no public record of it.
A city on a short runway
The same month, Air Zimbabwe returned to Masvingo, a story we covered earlier in September. ZimCitizenNews welcomed the route but asked the obvious question in its headline: for how long? Reports have differed on whether the flights were tied to expo week or are meant to run permanently.
That uncertainty is the backdrop to Doldo's pitch. A tourism push brings visitors and attention for a week, and local artists who have been making music about the place all along are well placed to benefit from it.
Who gets heard when a city is marketed
Doldo's EP raises a fair question for event organisers. When a smaller city is put on show to national and international visitors, what share of the stage goes to the people who actually live and create there? A headline act from outside draws the crowd, but a local rapper singing about the Ancient City tells visitors something a big name can't.
There's an opportunity here for the next edition, and for the city's own venues and tourism bodies. Songs that already sell Masvingo exist. Putting them in front of the people Masvingo is trying to attract costs very little.
Sources
- Doldo eyes Dzimbabwe World Tourism Expo slot with new 4-track EP, Midweek-Watch
- Masvingo to host Sanganai/Hlanganani tourism expo in September, The Observer
- Alick Macheso headlines Tourism and Culture Night at Sanganai/Hlanganani Expo, Gemnation
- Air Zimbabwe returns to Masvingo after 19 years, but for how long?, ZimCitizenNews
