There have been a lot of name-calling and beef rumours on the local dancehall scene and Winky D has stepped out to address the issue. Just before taking the stage in Mutare last Friday, Di Bigman said
Born Wallace Chirumiko on 1 February 1983 in Harare, Winky D always showed a lively interest in music ever since his childhood years as the mother confirms. He, very much unusual for ghetto youths at this age strived to keep a collection of Ragga audio tapes as early as Grade 3. Winky D started featuring in the GHETTO LANE CLASHES against elderly contestants, and his victories in these contests came as a result of his skill at selecting the best dancehall tunes. This earned him great respect amongst the Ghetto youths who gave him the nickname Winky D from Wicked Deejay.
At secondary school came another boost for the talents of Winky D, when he was nominated by his colleagues to play music at all school functions. This led to a sober appreciation of Winky’s musical talents by his elder brother, Wellington who volunteered to buy him CDs and vinyls if he started a sound. He started off as Supa Youths with a friend, but due to the friend’s continued absence because of school commitments, Winky collaborated with Garry B, another friend to form Dark Child. Winky D became the first school kid to play at the popular Tube Nite Spot at the tender age of 16. He clashed with big names in Dancehall like Alkebulani, New Generation, Shocking Vibes and Delta Force. He won several of these clashes and in no time Winky was a force to reckon with in the dancehall industry
In 2002 Winky D won the prestigious Sports Centre Cup Clash hosted by the big name in dancehall Jah B of Stereo One. In the same year, Winky D earned a contract to play at Club Tropicana (Dancehall Segments) Much to the surprise of people Winky D hosted the above-mentioned Cup clash in 2003 alongside Rough Mix’s Templeman. In the same year, Winky D thrashed the seasoned champion sound, Silverstone, after which he revived the Ghetto VS Ghetto sound competitions to help boost the dancehall skills of other Ghetto youths. His voice, unlike the voices of other MCs, as people noticed was worthy of loads of praise than mere admiration. There was a golden side to it, which led people to encourage Winky D to try his voice at singing. However, this was no new field to Winky D as he said’ l had written so many songs as I was growing up
With the help of Bartholomew Vera of BlackLab Records, Winky went into the recording studio. His first songs in the dancehall like Chamba, Zhing Zhong, Zvindakwenya, Kumbudzi, Rasta, The Don and Head Inna War coupled with his ingenious stage performance set the dance floors very busy and the single WAR was reviewed in the national weekly, SundayMail. Ever since Winky D has not turned back, he has released three albums namely “The Devotee”, “Singles Compilation” and “Vanhu Vakuru”. We have seen Winky being invited to present Rockers Vibes, (a musical programme) on Zimbabwe national television, ZTV, and invited to share the stage with Luciano “The Messenger”, and he has given the Zimbabwe audience more than 8 charts hits. Winky D has grown fans across the world which was evidenced by successful tours in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Winky D has become the new icon for Zimbabwean urban/reggae music with nicknames like, “King of Dancehall”, “The BigMan”, “The Prophet”, “Mutumwa”, and “Truthsayer” being attached to him in the ghettos.
"Actually, there is no any bad blood between me and my rivals. Yes, they can sing and say what they want but, they are trying to create issues out of nothing. Some of the artistes are actually riding high on my fame and popularity. They have realised that I have shot to stardom and are starting composing bad tracks against me,"King of Dancehall clashes held in 2009 crowned Di Bigman as the best in the land. Speaking on his hunger and passion for the music, here is what Winky D had to say.
"So I work with many other artists. To show that I do not have any beef with my rivals, I have worked with some of them on my latest album Igofigo. In the album, l included King Shaddy, Stunner and Guspy Warriors who are all mega stars,"
"Basically, my drive is that of a malnourished child, that man who is angry at whoever made plastic sneakers which became torn after being worn for a week, that teenager who is abusing drugs and other harmful substances, girl listening to the voices of peer pressure and suddenly engages in ‘DARK ‘ activities”His emotionally charged lyrics are the opposite of his soft-spoken and sociable personality. He is the kind of person whom one would not hesitate to spend the whole day chatting to. His ghetto schooling was a prophetic reflection of the powerful lyrics which have become his life. He is armed with a hunger for educating the people about the group of people very much taken for granted and life taken for a joke. On the other hand, his love lyrics inspire people to love others truly, for they are not reflections of their images of what they want them to be.
Born Wallace Chirumiko on 1 February 1983 in Harare, Winky D always showed a lively interest in music ever since his childhood years as the mother confirms. He, very much unusual for ghetto youths at this age strived to keep a collection of Ragga audio tapes as early as Grade 3. Winky D started featuring in the GHETTO LANE CLASHES against elderly contestants, and his victories in these contests came as a result of his skill at selecting the best dancehall tunes. This earned him great respect amongst the Ghetto youths who gave him the nickname Winky D from Wicked Deejay.
At secondary school came another boost for the talents of Winky D, when he was nominated by his colleagues to play music at all school functions. This led to a sober appreciation of Winky’s musical talents by his elder brother, Wellington who volunteered to buy him CDs and vinyls if he started a sound. He started off as Supa Youths with a friend, but due to the friend’s continued absence because of school commitments, Winky collaborated with Garry B, another friend to form Dark Child. Winky D became the first school kid to play at the popular Tube Nite Spot at the tender age of 16. He clashed with big names in Dancehall like Alkebulani, New Generation, Shocking Vibes and Delta Force. He won several of these clashes and in no time Winky was a force to reckon with in the dancehall industry
In 2002 Winky D won the prestigious Sports Centre Cup Clash hosted by the big name in dancehall Jah B of Stereo One. In the same year, Winky D earned a contract to play at Club Tropicana (Dancehall Segments) Much to the surprise of people Winky D hosted the above-mentioned Cup clash in 2003 alongside Rough Mix’s Templeman. In the same year, Winky D thrashed the seasoned champion sound, Silverstone, after which he revived the Ghetto VS Ghetto sound competitions to help boost the dancehall skills of other Ghetto youths. His voice, unlike the voices of other MCs, as people noticed was worthy of loads of praise than mere admiration. There was a golden side to it, which led people to encourage Winky D to try his voice at singing. However, this was no new field to Winky D as he said’ l had written so many songs as I was growing up
With the help of Bartholomew Vera of BlackLab Records, Winky went into the recording studio. His first songs in the dancehall like Chamba, Zhing Zhong, Zvindakwenya, Kumbudzi, Rasta, The Don and Head Inna War coupled with his ingenious stage performance set the dance floors very busy and the single WAR was reviewed in the national weekly, SundayMail. Ever since Winky D has not turned back, he has released three albums namely “The Devotee”, “Singles Compilation” and “Vanhu Vakuru”. We have seen Winky being invited to present Rockers Vibes, (a musical programme) on Zimbabwe national television, ZTV, and invited to share the stage with Luciano “The Messenger”, and he has given the Zimbabwe audience more than 8 charts hits. Winky D has grown fans across the world which was evidenced by successful tours in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Winky D has become the new icon for Zimbabwean urban/reggae music with nicknames like, “King of Dancehall”, “The BigMan”, “The Prophet”, “Mutumwa”, and “Truthsayer” being attached to him in the ghettos.