Entertainment Writer
WHEN Baba Harare, real name Braveman Chizvino stormed Twitter space nearly two months ago, he knew he had stepped onto uncharted waters.
Although he joined Twitter, in December 2020 Baba Harare decided to give the blue app another try.
“Hi Twitter Fam, I’m new here…let me practice good manners and introduce myself and tell you a bit about my life,” he writes early June.
It has been a successful comeback and a tumultuous one too!
Charming followers with well-written threads, witty storytelling, laced with relatable life experiences, Baba Harare has become Zimbabwe’s most favourite Twitter personality.
But many still do not believe, he is the man behind the keyboard.
Baba Harare responds, “The naysayers believe that English is reserved for a certain demographic vamwe tose we shouldn’t speak a certain way. To me English is our official language. I tweet in English to ensure everyone hears my messages. I was on Twitter for a while just observing. I am an observer I like to look, listen, and learn.”
Withing two months, the 33-year-old Jiti crooner has amassed over 20 000 followers and has caught the attention of many.
Zimbabwean Twitter is a hard hat area, often brutal and unkind ,especially to celebrities but Baba Harare has made it his favourite space.
Here, artists are often dragged into political twars by keyboard warriors and if they lack the stamina, one can take a boot, back to Facebook or other social media platforms.
“I am pleased I was received positively because umm patwitter pane hukasha haha,” he chuckles.
Taking fraudulent musical promoters head on and wading into hot political topics, the Jiti musician’s courage to use social media as a tool to exercise freedom of expression has received praises, even from the so called ‘big accounts’.
He has made friends and foes along the way too.
Baba Harare tells the NewsReportLive why he has decided to encourage Zimbabweans to register for next year’s crunch elections.
“I think my recent twitter activity was not necessarily coming from a place of political consciousness. It was coming from a place of frustration. I guess I was always told if you are frustrated about a situation, do something about it. Hence my tweets,” he says.
“That’s the story, nothing more to it. I think here in Zim artists (as you might have already witnessed) don’t particularly like to comment about politics. There is an unspoken rule that arts and politics don’t go well together. So even civic duties like encouraging voter registration could be misconstrued as political activism.”
Baba Harare says his Twitter activity mirrors the Zimbabwean society and daily frustrations.
“I am a Zimbabwean citizen; my job exposes me to a lot of people. I, like my fellow artists get to see and hear people’s struggles daily,” the Stambo singer says.
Popular for his tongue in cheek lyrics and sexual innuendos blended with high tempo Jiti instrumentation, Baba Harare has become one of Zimbabwe’s fastest growing artists.
After he parted ways with celebrated musician Jah Prayzah in 2017, Baba Harare has carved his own niche in a Jiti starved market.
Following the steps of yester-year musicians like Paul Mpofu Baba Harare has popularised post-2000, earning him the title of King of Jiti.
