Blessing Nduku
GWERU based Zimdancehall sensation; Wilton Doba popularly known as Legion in the music circles recently released a single on Monday titled Mashurugwi and has been trending lately.
Mashurugwi is a moniker attributed to violent gangs in the rich mineral Midlands Province known for ruthless machete battles over mining claims and in many other cases, robberies.
Doba in this case however represents the gangs that have been portrayed in social circles as violent to be hardworking locals who are however victim to social criticism over violent happenings that have affected their trade thereby adding to the rhetoric that gang fights that have manifested in the mining industry is because of robbers and not small scale miners.
“A lot of people have this belief that Mashurugwi are violent and unreasonable miners that cause chaos everywhere. In my opinion however, these are victims of circumstances who in many cases are wrongly labeled for defending their gains from bullies.
“They are actually hard working and should be appreciated for using their hands as compared to using underhand deals to earn a living,” said Doba.
The much celebrated Gweru based artist also says small scale miners are happy and peaceful people.
“I have performed for miners in Shurugwi and realised that these people are not as they are portrayed. They are happy and peace loving people. Societal bad apples like robbers are however riding on the socially constructed misrepresentations to do bad and further tarnish the miner’s image,” he added.
Doba has several hits to his name including Mafirji pakadoma, Mudhara wemangoma, Tipeiwo hwahwa and has also managed to share the stage with international dancehall chanter Turbulance.
The young artist is also known of priding from making success from Gweru and staying put than migrating to Harare as has been the case with other local born stars like Dj Tamuka.
On his recent Fcaebook post, he crowned himself the best dancehall chanter following an argument that he was awarded best artists outside Harare and according to him, interprets it to mean he is the only artists who makes meaning in larger parts of Zimbabwe while the rest only appeal to the Zimbabwean capital.
Currently Legion is working on an extended play record (EP) with a local producer; Nasper which he says will be released soon for his fans to continue enjoying his music despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
