Zimbabwe is located in southern Africa, bordered by Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa and Botswana.
Zimbabwean Musical Genres
Chimurenga – Popular style of music from the Shona people of Zimbabwe developed by Thomas Mapfumo in the 1980s. It is based on the sound of the mbira. Chumurenga means “liberation struggle music.”
The mbira is a thumb piano known as kalimba or sanza in other African countries. The mbira was traditionally played by men although currently there are also well known female performers.
Imbube – In the 1960s and 1970s Zimbabwe, then known by the colonial name Rhodesia, saw the birth of a new musical a capella genre called Imbube, comprising of males voices. The genre itself had originated from mines in neighboring South Africa where most Zimbabweans crossed to work.
At the mines, the miners composed and sang their own songs so as to drown their loneliness and entertain themselves. Without any accompanying music instruments, their voices composed rhythmic tunes that vibrated throughout the mines as they worked. In social gatherings Imbube became the main source of entertainment for the tired laborers who worked long hours in dangerous underground mines.
While most of the Imbube songs composed by the miners were happy compositions, some stood up for social justice and acted as a voice for the workers. With Imbube songs came some dancing, the gumboots dance in which the men stamped their feet on the ground in a stamping dance sequence. When the miners broke-off for the festive season each going to spend time with family and friends they sang Imbube songs to delighted audiences.
South Africa borders Zimbabwe in the south in the Matebeleland region which is dominated by Ndebele speaking people. So the influence of Imbube music concentrated in Matebeleland, as men there could easily cross into South Africa.
Zimbabwean Music in the 1970s: The Rise of Zimbabwe’s Modern Music Industry Amid Colonial Constraints
In the 1970s, Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia) and its capital, Salisbury (now Harare), were under white-minority rule. During this period, Black individuals were rarely featured in the white-owned press, except in the context of military conflict. However, that changed in 1972 when Dr. Footswitch, a local band, performed at The Rock-Band Contest at Gwanzura Stadium. Their guitarist, Manu Kambani, drew widespread attention for his Hendrix-inspired performance. The Rhodesia Herald ran his photo on the front page with the headline, “Jimi Hendrix Is Dead But Manu Is Alive.” The article drew backlash from conservative readers, who accused the paper of “lowering standards,” yet Kambani became a local icon in Harare’s townships.
As a result, his performance inspired a wave of young musicians to form bands that mixed Western rock with African musical traditions, including Congolese rumba, South African mbaqanga, soul, and local rhythms. This underground scene laid the groundwork for Zimbabwe’s post-independence music identity.
Western rock’s influence on Rhodesian music was profound. According to guitarist Wilson Jubane (a.k.a. Weed) of the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band and Double Shuffle, state-run radio primarily aired British and American rock. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones dominated the airwaves, leading many local bands to perform cover versions in hopes of securing gigs at white-owned clubs and hotels.
Similarly, music writer Fred Zindi observed that even African DJs at the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation’s African Service favored Anglo-American rock artists such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix. He noted that the Woodstock festival had a lasting cultural impact in Rhodesia, inspiring nationwide rock music contests.
This growing music scene attracted attention from South African industry players. Several Rhodesian bands, including The Great Sounds, MD Rhythm Success, Afrique 73, The Hitch-Hikers, The Impossibles, and O.K. Success, secured one-off deals with Gallo Records based on their live performances. However, Gallo failed to build on this momentum. In 1974, the Teal Record Company stepped in, expanding its Rhodesian operations under the leadership of drummer and traditional music enthusiast Crispen Matema.
Driving across the country in his Peugeot 504, Matema scouted talent, organized live contests, and arranged studio sessions in Salisbury. Within a year, he had recorded acts such as The Baked Beans, Blacks Unlimited, New Tutenkhamen, The Acid Band, Echoes Ltd, and Gypsy Caravan. To release the influx of recordings, Teal launched various new labels, including Afro Soul, Afro Pop, and Shungu.
In response, Gallo Records sent sax jive producer West Nkosi to scout Rhodesia’s talent. A tip led him to the Jamaica Inn Hotel, where he discovered The Green Arrows, led by Zexie Manatsa. By the end of 1974, their single “Chipo Chiroorwa” had sold over 25,000 copies, earning a gold disc, the first for a Rhodesian band.
Nkosi returned in November 1975 to record two more songs with The Green Arrows: the guitar-heavy “Towering Inferno,” a tribute to Paul Newman, and “No Delay,” an instrumental honoring Steve McQueen.
By 1976, as the liberation war intensified, Teal began recording Thomas Mapfumo, who had joined forces with Blacks Unlimited and The Acid Band. Mapfumo modernized traditional Shona music, developing a politically charged style known as Chimurenga, meaning “struggle” in Shona. These songs became rallying cries for the liberation movement.
Due to their growing influence, both Mapfumo and Manatsa attracted scrutiny from Rhodesia’s Police Anti-Terrorist Unit (PATU) and were arrested. Despite state repression, their music, and that of artists like Tineyi Chikupo, persisted, becoming a vehicle for cultural resistance.
By the time Zimbabwe achieved independence in 1980, these musicians had become celebrated figures. Their work not only defied colonial censorship but also laid the foundation for a distinct national sound.
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Zimbabwean Artists
Black Umfolosi; Chartwell Dutiro; Chiwoniso Maraire; Mokoomba; Louis Mhlanga; Ramadu; Siyaya; Stella Chiweshe; Thomas Mapfumo.
Zimbabwean music compilations
Roots Rocking Zimbabwe – The Modern Sound of Harare’ Townships 1975-1980 (Analog Africa, 2025). The 25 songs presented in this project present the birth of the modern music industry in Zimbabwe and the explosion of creativity bands of the 1970s and 80s. Rock, rumba, soul and traditional grooves all collide beautifully in this collection, which also includes never-before-released tracks by Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi and many other Zimbabwean artists.
Zimbabwean Music Books
Signs of the Spirit, Music and the Experience of Meaning in Ndau Ceremonial Life by Tony Perman, University of Illinois Press, 2020.
