Is she Zimbabwean? What does she sing? Won’t she disown us when she wins? These are some of the questions being asked by some Zimbabweans as they are being rallied to vote for their fellow countryman, South Africa-based Sha Sha who has been nominated for the prestigious BET Awards.
No doubt, Sha Sha (real name Charmaine Shamiso Mpambiro) who is popularly known as the Amapiano queen in the neighbouring country has put in the work, likely explaining why she has become the first local to be nominated for these awards which seek to showcase the best and most beautiful aspects of the Black experience – celebrating Black music’s present and future.
She is nominated in the Best new international act category with some of the finest new voices on the globe – Rema (Nigeria) Celeste (UK), Young T & Bugsey (UK), Hatik (France) and Stacy (France).
But, ever since Monday when the news of Sha Sha’s nomination broke and people were urged to vote for her on the BET platforms, her popularity in the country has been put to the test.
Some have even quizzed why they are being forced to vote for someone they do not know simply because she is Zimbabwean? Shocking as it seems as she is the voice behind Amapiano hits Tender Love and Love You Tonight, some people, genuinely had no idea who Sha Sha, a musician who hails from Mutare was before Monday. And this includes the princess of Mbira, Hope Masike who while congratulating Sha Sha for her achievement, confessed that she did not know her.
This likely explains why there are so many mixed feelings towards voting for her as some clearly do not relate with her since she is not based in the country.
Another issue some seem to have challenges with is the fact that most who have left the country to pursue their music careers, especially in South Africa, once they are successful, tend to want nothing to do with Zimbabwe, something locals are clearly against.
“Before I waste my vote. Is she Zimbabwean or South African,” socialite Nomathemba “Posh” Ndebele asked followers on social media after a tweet by South Africa’s Sho Madjozi seemed to suggest that Sha Sha was South African.
“Both South African nominees for BET Awards 2020 are women! Well done Sha Sha,” Sho Madjozi tweeted while encouraging people to vote for Sha Sha.
This post got people thinking as they could already picture Sha Sha going to accept her award and thanking South Africans for their support and not mentioning Zimbabwe.
It is this that got some saying: “Imagine after all this hard work by Zimbos and she just thanks SA.”
However, closely following Sha Sha’s career thus far, she is far from what people are fearing. She is very proud of her country and with any opportunity she gets, she always brags about more specifically Mutare, a city where she was raised. To show how much the city means to her, she did a song titled Mutare that is on her debut EP, Blossom.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Sha Sha had garnered just over 21 000 votes on one of the BET voting platforms on Instagram. Her biggest competition is in the form on Nigerian artiste Rema who as of Wednesday afternoon had double Sha Sha’s votes.
