Nyasha David, the shinning DreamStar

Not many believe in talent shows because they say the winners rarely make it big on the showbiz scene and they dent the aspirations of very gifted contestants who get eliminated along the way.

However, for youngster, Nyasha David, though he did not win the top prize in Zim’s top talent show, DreamStar, he has budded into an amazing artist who will definitely shake Zimbabwe if he remains focused.

Zimbo Jam got to speak with the husky voiced Nyasha who is doing well on local radio with tracks such as ‘Tiki Taka’ and ‘Moyo Muti’.

Who is Nyasha?

Nyasha David Dengwani was and bred in the city of progress, Gweru. I come from a family consisting of five children and I’m the second born in the family.

I attended Widdecombe Primary School, then Churchill Boys High School form one to four, then I went back to Gweru to finish my A Level at Nashville High School.

I also studied at Gweru polytechnic doing Information Communication and Technology. I currently hold a City and Guilds and Hexco ICT Diploma.

When did the music mission start?

I have been singing for as long as I can remember – from nursery rhymes and rhythms at Pipe Pipers Kindergarten where I led most of the Rhymes to Winning small time competitions at primary school level of talent exhibitions.

At Churchill I remember I used to headline at all the cultural nights that we would have and also feature at Roosevelt Girls High School Cultural Nights. At the time, the dancing was more dominant than the singing which saw me also performing at high school gigs and variety show functions.

At Gweru Poly I was also in the Poly Band. We contested in 2013 and 2014 at the Tertiary Institutions Festival of Arts TIFAZ where we came second and first respectively and I was the lead singer.

Any influences?

Music for me is a hereditary thing. It runs in the family. My uncle Tockson Banda played for the Rock Jazzers a band from Malawi in the late 70’s. He also once played with Marshall Munhumumwe before he left for Malawi where he later changed his name from Misheck Dengwani to Tockson Banda.

My dad, Godfrey Dengwani for quite some years in his life was a big time acoustic performer in Lybia and Mozambique, where he was training to be a pilot but never neglecting his passion for music.

It stretches way back to our grand and great grandfathers as we were made to know that our family is an artistic one.

Tell us about DreamStar and how it molded your career?

My big break came when I entered the Dreamstar Zimbabwe in 2015.I came third in this competition which was highly competitive and the winner of this season was Takudzwa Mashonganyika aka “Pro-Beats” one of the most talented individuals I’ve ever met.

I got a handsome $1000US and a trip to China which lasted three weeks. We toured three cities namely Beijing, Chenhu and Tianjin – one of the best moments of my life.

After that we came back home and I had the opportunity, under Dreamstar to start performing cover and original songs at different embassies, DreamStar university tours and also had the privilege of performing at the state visit of China’s President, Xi Jing Ping to Zimbabwe – it was such an honour.

How did you get signed to DreamStar?

Due to good working relations with the DreamStar and them seeing my potential, they signed me under their record label, JCM, as their first artist.

How has the journey been so far?

The journey from being a talented singer or artist to writing a hit song was and still is tough. From recording to marketing to distribution to getting that much needed airplay, all of this is so tough to the extent that I almost feel like giving up. But this was and still is my passion, so I keep on moving.

How many songs have you released?

My first release was ‘Toasting’ released early last year. We then hit home with my first single “Tiki Taka” from my forthcoming EP, Dancing Is Free Therapy (DIFT). It blew up and got me interviews on ZTV’s Coca Cola on the beat, radio stations and different magazines.

I performed all around Zimbabwe with this one and I still am.

The follow up to ‘Tiki Taka’ had to be better to maintain the standard we had set, unfortunately ‘Isai Mawoko’ wasn’t as big but we are still pushing it and we will be releasing the video later this year.

Future plans?

2018 started very well for us. We released a Valentine’s Day tribute called “Moyo Muti” and by far this is our biggest song since we started in 2016.

We have also released another single from the EP called ‘Haumbomugona’ which is coming up slowly but surely.

An album is definitely in the pipeline. We are looking to launch it after releasing some EP’s.

The first EP, DIFT drops on the 15th of June. It is going to be a groovy EP which shall introduce Nyasha David as both a passionate singer and fervent dancer.

Nyasha David – Toasting