Back in 2020 whilst everyone was stuck at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, Baba Harare kept us on our feet with Stumbo, a song that was inspired by Mabamura who initially went viral on Facebook whilst singing his original version. "So one day I am scrolling on Facebook, and then boom Mabamura appears on my feed," says Baba Harare who admits to getting inspired by social media content. "... in those Facebook live sessions is where I get some of my lyrical content."
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| Baba Harare Image: Instagram.com/babaharare_ |
Their collaborative song is going viral again on Tik Tok, so Baba Harare took to Twitter to share the story behind the hit song. "So some of you might have bumped into Stumbo the song at parties. Well if you haven’t, you might be interested in how it all happened." wrote Baba Harare in a Tweet.
Check out the story below
So my manager was visiting. We were talking about the cost of living in general. I was talking about how embarrassed I was when my nieces always ask for “Mari yema sweets” and half of the time I say handina. I guess I was quite emotional and emotive in the conversation. Those who have met me in person will tell you that I am very laid back. My manager then said wadii kunyora iri song? Because of the passion, I had for this specific subject. I had not thought of this. I started to write. My writing style is quite different. I don’t take pen to paper. I play the acoustic as I sing over the melody. My manager had not witnessed the creative process at this point. So she kept on saying “nyora pasi unokanganwa. Stumbo take 1 was an epic fail. It seeped in raw emotion and was too heavy for my artistic style. I am more of a satirical, tongue In cheek, comic relief kind of guy so it strayed way too far from my comfort zone. So I parked the project. We had very difficult conversations with my manager but we eventually agreeably disagreed. I went on to start on my new album entitled izvi zvinoitirwei. The creative process for me involves spending time in these virtual streets. Ipapo Twitter yaindityisa so I spent a lot of time interacting with my fellow villagers Ku Facebook. So one day I am scrolling on Facebook boom Mabamura appears on my feed. He was saying exactly what I was failing to say in my song. At this point, my song was called House of Hunger so naturally, I asked the villagers to find Mabamura. Facebook is full of resourceful people. Within a day we found him. so we arranged to meet. Chikomana traveled from Bocha with his cousin. went to meet up with him with a plastic bag of his favorite poison (beers). But on arrival at 11am Jaya ranga ratoguta kare so he obviously didn’t need anymore. His argument was that he was anxious about the meeting so initially, he drank to relieve stress. Mabamura is a genius. my mission was to sober him up but the cousin said atori bhoo handei kustudio. You know what they say? When in Rome. So I decided to let myself drink too. We went to Cymplex studio tiri ma drunken master zvedu . Mabamura had never been in a studio before so hilarity ensued. Poor Cymplex. We renamed the song, Stumbo. I remember listening to the original audio ndaitoti Stumpo zvangu nekudhakwa. Cymplex worked his magic and Stumbo was conceived. For the visuals, we all agreed it was going to be a dry day( meaning no alcohol) but Mabamura managed to sneak a little bit. He is naturally shy and I guess he needed Dutch courage to dance in front of a camera. The making of Stumbo taught me that I can still occupy the social commentary space with satire. We all are in chase of the elusive Stumbo and the current climate is difficult for artists as well.
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