Cde Fasto Tells The Zimbabwean Story At Exit Festival

Novi Sad, July 16, 2010 - One of Zimbabwe’s well known protest artists Samm Farai Munro better known as Cde Fatso said he felt honoured to perform at the historic EXIT Festival in Serbia.

The festival, which is held annually in Novi Sad, a city located north of the Serbian capital Belgrade has a significant history in the struggle for freedom of the Serbian people and those in the greater Balkan region especially those that were part of the larger former Yugoslavia.

The festival attracts 50 000 people from across Europe to the Fotress venue in downtown Novi Sad.

Fotress was a place where soldiers fighting in the Serbian wars used as a camp and a frontier for attacks because of it location on a hilltop.

Cde Fasto  belongs to a new generation of Zimbabwean artists who use their artistic talents to challenge the political order under President Robert Mugabe.

The EXIT festival contributed to the fall of dictatorship in the former Yugoslavia. For a Zimbabwean artist whose country is going through more of the same problems that the Serbian people went through under the dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic, getting time at the festival which usually attracts established names was a measurable feat.

“Performing at the Exit Festival was a huge honour for me and Chabvondoka. It is one of the most prestigious festivals in Europe and the biggest we have ever played at,” said Munro.

Ironically the festival attracted about 50 000 music fans and most of those were from Netherlands and Spain.

This, however, did not deter the Zimbabwe protest artist who is better known for his aggressive music style, which challenges the Zimbabwean political order under President Mugabe.

“We spread our messages about our struggles for social justice in Zimbabwe and how it is similar to what Serbians have been through. And the future is looking bright as this one gig will lead to even more gigs and tours in Europe for us,” said Munro.

Together with his band made up of young artists, Munro uses poetry and music fusion to spread across social and political messages that affects young people in Zimbabwe.

Munro shared the stage with popular artists such as Missy Elliot, David Guetta, Faith No More and Chemical Brothers at the EXIT Festival.

Munro is one of the most explosive and controversial coming out of Zimbabwe. His music is hardly played on the state monopolised radio and television stations in Zimbabwe. His tentacles has since spread into the southern African region and is also slowly making inroads in other parts of the world as he tries to use his power of the word and sound to tell the story of Zimbabwe.

He calls his poetry Toyi Toyi Poetry, a term which refers to some form of prose street poetry that mixes Shona with English and electrifying guitars with mbira creating a pulsating hip hop sound.

It’s the kind of music that aims to advocate for an uprising against oppression in an otherwise conservative Zimbabwean society which is often comfortable solving disputes using any other means other than
violence.

In 2008 Munro launched his first album titled House of Hunger whose release was met with all kinds of responses from the state.