THOMAS Mapfumo has called Winky D to “clear the air” after a newspaper report claimed he had accused the dancehall hotshot of “destroying Zimbabwean music”.
Mapfumo, who is based in the United States, spoke to Winky D a fortnight ago while the latter was on a tour of the UK and told him he had been misquoted.
“I told him not to listen to people who had taken my advice to him out of context to push their own agendas,” Mapfumo said.
“I only had good advice for him and said ‘look, young brother, this is a jungle and for you to break into it you have to beat them at their own game’. People like the late Lucky Dube didn’t sing in any of the South African languages, so I just said to Winky he could also make it internationally by singing maybe in English to be appreciated all over and challenge those who are already established in reggae or ragga.
“You have to beat them at their own game if you choose to do their music.”
Winky D, who shot to fame with his smash hit 'Musarova Bigman', said he had a good discussion with the Chimurenga legend, and was convinced his comments had been sensationalised.
“He didn’t say that,” Winky D said on Tuesday. “Even if he had, I would not have been flabbergasted because in this industry there’s always criticism.
“I didn’t want to put the cart before the horse and react before talking to Mukanya.
“When we spoke he told me he had been misquoted and I believe him because he would not have said that when, during his days in Zimbabwe, he had a dancehall musician, Yappie Banton, as the opening act at his shows.”
Winky D performed to capacity crowds at three venues in Leeds, London and Coventry on the tour.
He said: “It was crazy. It was unthinkable. All the shows were so great it was so unbelievable.
“At one point I was afraid the fans might go beyond kissing the shoe,” he added, referring to the track Kiswa Bhutsu which he penned after fans at a show in Australia earlier this year showed their appreciation by kissing his shoes.
Winky D has also had successful tours of the United States, Canada and Malaysia this year.
“It’s been a significant year for my career and essentially what’s going down is the result of thinking outside the box,” he said.
“We have been doing the unthinkable since day one and we told ourselves if we are going to sing and get relevant we have to relate to the daily struggles in the ghettos.
“This is the vibe we believe in and we have no boundaries.”