Out of the ruins, a vision of Hope is born
Hope Masike
The makings of a true diva
Have you ever wondered what it must be like for the Infinite Being to be witness to wonder of the formation of stars, right from the very beginning? (We mortals get to experience the splendour and majesty of stars billions of years afterwards…) Though we are not immortal, we are, however, from time to time, given a rare privilege to be witnesses to the birth of stars within our lifetime. We are honoured to watch them come forth and shine. Hope Masike neKakuwe never cease to give me this feeling.
“Once this woman grows out of the scholastic mode, she’s going to hit the stratosphere,” observed Edgar Langeveld. A combination of Hope’s sultry looks, with echoes of Queen Nerfetiti- under the headdress that spoke of many Nubian queens who have walked this continent in ages now gone, and the delivery of the songs in a voice that seemed to have dipped in honey, steeped in the deepest of earth and heaven’s delights had solicited the remark.
The young musician’s charisma is inescapable.
“She still finding herself but already she has started to hold her own. She was hot at HIFA and had created her own following which kept clamouring for more,” Anesu Katere, a Book Café regular told me.
Listening to and watching Hope perform one can see why. The vocal range, with a dash of jazziness is superb with the potential of being phenomenal, and quite clearly she is on her way there. And she knows what her music is all about, too.
‘It’s Zimbabwean, traditional rhythms with jazz elements; especially vocally…The sound is always growing. I do not want to be defined, you know limited to being, a mbira player. We are always bringing different artists so that we don’t limit ourselves to only what we know,” she says.
As a work in progress, Hope Masike deserves top marks, which is why the prospect of the end product is so fascinating. Carlos Santa once paid homage to what he termed the Shamans of music, those who have the power and ability to take you to ecstasy and back. Now, out of a country in ruins, comes a voice so sweet, a vision so full of promise and a hope so poignant that one cannot help but be moved, for a Zimbabwean Shaman is being born here.
“She is destined to be the next Stella Chiewshe, Chiowniso- that’s her league,” declared Anesu with an air of finality.
He is probably right and more, for those who come before us set standards to which we aspire and if we are gifted enough we not only reach them, but also surpass them. Thus with the right grounding and direction, Hope could very well surpass the icons mentioned by Anesu, and “reach the stratosphere” as Edgar predicted.
How do you predicate musicians as Shamans with the power to take people to ecstasy and back, and Hope as one in the making, in an African context? Quite simple really, for the importance of music and the power of song in African life is timeless. And in African- American culture, the poets there have a long tradition of paying the blues, soul, R ‘n’ B female singers as figures of awesome power. Ma Rainey. Bessie Smith. Ida Cox. Marla Glenn. Nina Simone. Aretha Franklin. Diana Ross. Erika Badou. Whitney Houston…The baton has been passed on down the ages to contemporary hitmakers. Why?
“Indigenous African religions included women not only as healers and priestesses, but also as revered ancestors and potent deities…The poetic tributes to African- American women singers demonstrate that they often act as “loas” and “orishas”…by possessing enormous emotional power, healing their hearer’s grief, and mediating between the human and transcendent…[They] sing with a force that absorbs and persuades their listeners,” writes Andrea Benton Rushing in an essay, “God’s Divas: Women in African Poetry” (in the book, Women in Africa and the African Diaspora, edited by Roslyn Terbog- Penn, Sharon Harley, and Benton herself).
Young Hope Masike might not be aware of her awesome power but for those with discerning eyes and ears, it is apparent she has stepped into the current of a long tradition with a natural flair and ability that promises immense greatness. Her humility, however, is infectious. She is always acknowledging the role of the other band members. For her, the individual would be nothing without the group.
“The critical part is that it’s a working relationship, without any limits on anyone. I come up with the basic structure and rhythm but it’s really up to the others to explore all the possibilities. The key is to have them play what they are feeling within the rhythmic structure and bring it all together. No one is limited,” she says.
The music that is born is nourishing. The lyrical beauty unmistakable. There is passionate fire behind it.
“I stand for the search for the true you, the spiritual you, living life in its fullness and not just surviving,” enthuses Hope.
She adds, “I am also a social commentator, and hope that the message in my songs can go a long way in fixing the wrongs in our midst.”
I shall explore how she does this in another installment, but for now suffice to say this is one star worth watching out for.
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It’s great that you are promoting Zimbabwean talent like this Stan. Our artists need more support from us. That is how great stars are born.
I look forward to reading more on other artists and bands.