Dancehall fathers dismiss Fantan
Some prominent names in the music industry have dismissed claims by DJ Fantan that he is the founder and Godfather of Zimdancehall. In an interview on Power Fm conducted by Chamvari on Tuesday, Templeman said Fantan can not lay claim to having established a genre which came into being in the mid to late 90’s.
The interview was also graced by DJ Squiller and Sniper Storm who were at pains to explain how long Zim dancehall has been in existence.
DJ squiller narrated how he was the first DJ to play Winky D’s ini ndirirasta song on power fm, way before chillspot records had burst on the local music scene. Sniper storm also pointed to the fact that he has had many years in the musuc industry as a dancehall artist expressing satisfaction at having seen artists such as Souljah Luv, Killer T and Freeman flourish.
When asked to comment about some of the prominent names of Zimdancehall, Templeman said Major E and Booker T are some of the names that come to mind. With dancehall music being a genre that evolved from reggae the panel that was interviewed said the likes of the Masvingo riddim which was released in 2000 cannot be dismissed as it played a huge role in the emergence of Zim dancehall.
As the topic on the founding fathers got deeper arguments arose with panelists suggesting Thomas Mapfumo and even John Chibadura are among the pioneers of dancehall in Zimbabwe.
When asked about who had formulated the name Zimdancehall there suggestions Sluggy yut had formulated the name Zim dancehall after setting up a website to promote Zim dancehall music after migrating to the United Kingdom. The website was targeted at seeking to convince Jamaicans to listen to dancehall music which was being sung in Zimbabwe using the shona dialect. Extra Large and Innocent Utsiwegota are other artists that were suggested to having played a role in the establishment of Zimdancehall.
The Zimdancehall debate began last week when DJ Fantan appeared to suggest that Chillspot records are the founders of Zimdancehall, a claim that is strongly being disputed in many quaters.
