DERICK Sipho believes that he has found a new lease of life.
Only two years ago, Derick found himself at a crisis as the
man that he had known as his father for four decades, musician Lovemore
Majaivana, publicly disowned him, casting potentially career-ending doubt on
the paternity of the man carrying his name.
Up until that point, the Majaivana name was the foundation
stone upon which Derick had built his career, while growing up in Bulawayo and
even spreading wings to South Africa. It was the wind in his sails, the push
that life had handed to him curtesy of merely possessing the genes of one of
Zimbabwe’s greats.
While some musicians have to build, start from scratch,
grinding out a name for themselves in front of the most unforgiving fans on the
most unfashionable of stages, he instead was the heir apparent to Majee, one of
the most famous names in local music.
From the time he had decided to pick up a mic, this was
Derick’s life. Until it wasn’t. Overnight, he was stripped of the one thing
that made him more special that the thousands of young Zimbabweans with a
guitar in their hand and a song in their hearts. He woke up one day and his
name was no longer his. He was no longer Majaivana, uGolide.
Instead of the master of song that is still missed sorely
by Zimbabweans two decades after he last polished his dancing shoes, Derick
discovered that he was the son of one Abel Khanyi, a late National Railways of
Zimbabwe train driver who probably never held a high note in his life.
Finding out that your father is not your father after 40
years cannot be easy. And so, the last two years have involved a lot of soul
searching for Derick who now is ready to retell his story, this time without
the burden or expectation brought on by the Majaivana name. Although he might
no longer technically be Majaivana’s son, he wants to tell that story using the
only way he knows how – through music.
“I am rebranding, l guess it has been an open secret to the
whole world that this would happen,” he told Sunday Life.
“I thought of this when it dawned on me that my old man
didn’t like me using the Majaivana brand and so l have changed to Sipho Derick.
I did this so that I could find peace within and with everyone around me.
Remember music is the system, it is within me. So, l have become even more
determined and focused to come out stronger from past experiences to dish out
this so brilliant track which features two great South African friends of
mine,” he said.
The track in question deals with the issue of absent fathers,
a subject that is dear to Derick’s heart. While his own fatherlessness was only
confirmed two years ago, the track was itself conceived years earlier than
that.
“This track just popped up in my mind and l remember, I
think it was about five years back. Me and my band were doing rehearsals for a
national gala event and the song started playing in my head and l had to sing
it out to my guys, including the two ladies l have worked with for a long time,
Fiona and Sharon.
“That’s how the song came to being, it’s basically a cry
from the children to their mother as they face the hardships in life because
their father abandoned them and is living large somewhere else. Their cry is
for answers and they ask why? Why is this happening to them? What wrong did they
do? They know nothing and are but just innocent kids.
Why are they subjected to such neglect and hatred from the
one they should look up to as a father?” he said.
After that life-changing bombshell two years ago, some
might be wondering where the musician found the strength to pick up a mic
again. Derick told Sunday Life that he had spent that time doing a lot of soul
searching and healing from a bit of news that wounded his heart and turned his
life upside down.
“I think the gap between that time and now, when I am
releasing this single accompanied by an instrumental, was a period of
self-healing and it’s amazing how my friends in Yeoville (South Africa)
motivated me and even chipped in with financial help for the studio work. I
have two friends called Felix and Confidence and these guys are amazingly
supportive and they are the reason l got my groove back. Just like that and I
am back in the game and I can say that what doesn’t kill you makes you
stronger,” he said.
While he might have been disowned and humiliated, Derick
said a new name did not mean that he would purge Majee’s glittering discography
from his sets.
“Majaivana music is my backbone. l will drive it as it
navigates me to greater heights. I am so proud to have been raised by such a
great musician and surely will put a smile on his face one day as he sees me
and my team progress in music circles. God has been good. He got me up and
whispered, ‘be still and know l am God’. l will never forget that voice.
“My new name is my real name in actual fact. I am Sipho
Derick and so l have only taken out the last part of my name. I will push my
style to greater heights. In music we move with times because creativity pops
up all the time. I stand rebranded as Sipho Derick from this coming album going
forward,” he said.
While some might see the revelation that he was not Majee’s
son as career ending, Derick said he believed that hardship and strife had
shaped him into a better musician.
“This is a (new) track sung in Ndebele with a Setswana
translation so it expands my territory which is the game to play for me now. I
want to be reaching out to a larger audience than l used to. What l can say is
l have matured and although I’m still the Derick Majaivana you know, I have
changed for the better and I am ready to please all my fans around the world in
a more beautiful, artistic way than before,” he said.
While he might be upbeat about his career, Derick does not
deny that his personal life has not been a bed of roses.
“I think natural healing process is my priority right now.
With a lot of support from friends and family I’m holding up well and have
since overcome the stigma that plagued me in the beginning. When the time is
right, we will have that discussion as a family but for now l choose to focus on
the positivity surrounding all that is yet to be done and come my way before l
depart planet called earth. l don’t dwell much on the past but after a setback
I get myself up, look up to Jesus and journey on,” he said.
After 40 years of knowing nothing but the Tshuma name next to his first name, he believes it may be a bit too late for him to regard himself as anything else. When he is ready to embrace his other family, he said, he would do so.
“Honestly l tried to connect with them but the questions
and answers became too much for me to process, so l instead chose to stick to
myself and the people l know. That will be the case up until my brothers and
sisters out there feel it’s time to reach out. l have a family, which is the
Tshuma clan l grew up under, and we have good relations even after all that
took place. I consider those from either my mother or father’s side my brothers
and my sisters and that’s how I will leave it. Forty years is way too long for
one to just wake up and say l am changing from this family to this one,” he
said. Sunday News
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