A new documentary which chronicles the journey of urban grooves music is under production.
According to the organisers, production of the documentary entitled ‘Urban Grooves-The Journey’ began in November 2019 at Disrapt studios in association with Velron Media and Creative Thinker Inc in Harare.
The organisers say that the documentary will be premiered on the 28th of April 2021 on Disrapt YouTube channel at 10 am.
“The show promises to be an in-depth insight into the journey of the various stakeholders involved in the genre including the government of Zimbabwe, promoters, producers and artists.
“The documentary will shed some light on the way the genre started and the impact it brought to the Zimbabwean music industry. It will demonstrate how artists took up the challenge to create an exciting industry and write a piece of history in the Zimbabwean music industry,” they said.
According to the documentary producer Ronald Ngwerume, the idea came about after a realisation that there wasn’t enough documentation of the genre in Zimbabwe.
“When we came up with the idea of doing a documentary, we had realized that there wasn’t enough documentation in Zimbabwe. The impact made by this genre in the music industry was massive and we need to raise awareness of it. In addition to recognizing the efforts of the government, producers and artists, we wanted to showcase the music industry and to share the journeys of some of Zimbabwe’s musicians,” he said.
The Documentary will have contributors like renowned producer and guitarist Clive Mono Mukundu, Social Entrepreneur Plot Mhako, Musician Diana Samkange, Producer Alex ‘Zezuru Rocksta’ Muringani and Music Producer/Artist Walter ‘Walter 21’ Ngwerume. They share their honest opinions and look into the journey of urban rrooves.
“They say if you don’t know your past, you never know your identity. One thing that made me want to be involved in this documentary was the fact we were recognising and celebrating those who changed the culture and narratives of how music is consumed to this date in Zimbabwe” said the documentary’s director Jasper Mhishi.
Urban grooves first became popular around the year 2000, when the government made a deliberate policy of promoting local arts by enforcing a 75% threshold for broadcasting local content on national radio and television stations.
