JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – South African hitmaker DJ Maphorisa said he was “speechless” after his protégé Sha Sha became the first Zimbabwean artist to win a BET award on Monday.
Sha Sha announced her arrival on the world stage after winning the gong for Viewers’ Choice: Best New International Act at the BET awards which honour black excellence in entertainment and sport.
The record-breaking feat would mostly likely never have been achieved for the 26-year-old had she not been introduced to Maphorisa, who has produced a string of hits for the Zimbabwean – earning her the title of ‘Queen of Amapiano’, the new sound causing waves in South Africa and the region.
A stunned Sha Sha tweeted “what just happened?” moments after she was named a winner, edging fellow nominees – Nigeria’s Rema; Celeste from the United Kingdom, Hatik from France, Young T & Bugsey from the United Kingdom and Stacy of France.
Maphorisa, also taking to Twitter, wrote: “I’m humbled. I’m out of words. Ipiano international!”
An outpouring of tributes came from Zimbabwe, led by MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa, who congratulated her for “this wonderful achievement personally, and for your country.”
“That very sweet moment when our votes actually count,” Chamisa tweeted. “You have done all of us proud.”
Youth, sport and arts minister Kirsty Coventry posted a congratulatory message urging Sha Sha to “keep raising our flag and spreading the light.”
“Thank you for representing Zimbabwe,” singer Jah Prayzah also tweeted.
Born Charmaine Shamiso Mapimbiro (hence Sha Sha) in Bulawayo, the singer was exposed to diverse cultures at an early age.
“I was born in Bulawayo and stayed there for a bit. We then moved to Mutare then Harare. But most of my years were in Mutare because my dad is from Mutare,” Sha Sha said in a February 2020 podcast interview with MacG posted on YouTube.
Sha Sha had two stints in South Africa as a child. Her first stay in Johannesburg was brief, but she returned for a longer stay in the Vaal Triangle where she did her Grade 6, 7 and 8.
“When I started (singing) in Mutare, it was a hobby. My main focus was applying to be a nurse but that wasn’t working well, I was just dropping CVs at hospitals. Now I was conflicted, nursing or music? My parents were going crazy,” the Tender Love star recalls her early years.
She soon moved to Harare where, while staying with an aunt, she worked as a waitress and receptionist, and pursued her music passion by performing at free gigs in her free time.
“One of the CEOs of a radio station hooked me up with Audius Mtawarira. They offered me an artist development plan, and I had access to the studio for three years. It was super great, they became family.”
Sha Sha recalls her first break when she was asked to perform at Zimbabwe’s biggest music festival, HAIFA.
Working with Junior Brown, Tytan and Yagidojo, Sha Sha had stumbled on a hit while making a commissioned circumcision advert with a song called Kalyfe Kemaboss.
It was time to return to South Africa, and her team hooked her up with some producers in Johannesburg.
Her biggest break, however, came from the unlikeliest of sources: a cab driver. After landing at the OR Tambo International Airport, she found out the person who was supposed to pick her up had not pitched. Then a friend said they had arranged for their cabby to pick her up.
On the way home, the cabby asked Sha Sha the regular questions and soon discovered she was a singer from Zimbabwe. He too was from Zimbabwe.
“He said to me ‘I know DJ Maphorisa, I’ve transported him a couple of times and we can go meet him sometime’,” Sha Sha remembers. “One evening we went out there. Maphorisa listened to one of my ballads and he was blown away and from then on we kept working. That was in 2017.”
Through Maphorisa, Sha Sha met many other artists, which encounters have resulted in collaborations with singers like Mlindo, MFR Souls, Samthing Soweto and the producers Kabza De Small and Don Laka.
Sha Sha released her first album, Blossom, in November last year after over six years performing in the shadows.
“The name Blossom comes from the fact that for the longest time I was always behind the scenes, focusing on the foundation, and last year I decided it was my time,” she told MacG.
Yet her break-out was not always easy, she admits.
“When I had to perform, I would freak out. I had super stage fright and was terrified. Now it’s a vibe. The part I really enjoy is when I hear them sing back,” she says.
“When I started the music thing, I wanted to be like Sia – no-one sees my face they just hear my voice. Later, I loved the idea of being interactive with people that love you. It works for Sia, but as the years went on I thought I enjoy the interaction.”
Sha Sha, who listens to Stormzy, Ami Faku and Mthunzi among his favourites, says she is largely oblivious of her fame until she gets on stage, describing herself as “an introvert, chilled and laid back.”
She has had to learn very quickly about contracts, and she says the worst mistake an artist can make is to be detached from their craft and commercial interests.
“I had a lawyer, we spent a year negotiating my contracts. We take our time, we don’t rush into things like that otherwise you get into bad situations. I have also had to learn to be patient, and develop some sort of thick skin and learn to say ‘no’. You must be hands on with yourself. The industry, music in general, you have to be tough because you’re battling with your own life first before all else.”
A songwriter, Sha Sha say her music production process often begins with the beat.
“Sometimes it’s the instrumental which tells you to party, or to cry. There’re emotions with instrumentals and I go with it. Sometimes I write a melody and I draw emotions from something I’ve experienced or my environment.”
Her success has surprised her parents who are “super proud”, she says. “They say I’m inspiring.”
What of the cabby?
“I talk to him now and again, he’s like my dad. He’s a fellow Zimbabwean like myself and he checks up on me,” Sha Sha says.
Sha Sha, who is releasing her second album this year, says she is not afraid of failure – but will not give up.
“If it fails it fails, I’m not dying,” she says.
Sha Sha’s smash hit, Tender Love, has been one of the top-ranked songs this year in South Africa after she collaborated with DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small.
She also features on the smash hit ‘Akulaleki’ by Samthing Soweto, and on MFR Souls’ ‘Love You Tonight’ which were both produced by Maphorisa and Kabza De Small.
Sha Sha has also received generous airplay with ‘Emazulwini’. She also features on ‘We Mama’ on Maphorisa and Kabza De Small’s Scorpion Kings EP, and Mlindo the Vocalist’s hit, ‘Nge Thanda Wena’.
