Affectionately called “Tuku” by his followers, Oliver Mtukudzi is one of the most popular artists ever to come out of Zimbabwe. He plays a generally happy, light acoustic pop with some splashes of traditional elements mixed in. Some of his stuff is a little too light for me, but he has a few tracks that I particularly like, most notably Dzoka Uyamwe which I’ll post here today.

He started out his career with the band Wagon Wheels alongside future great Thomas Mapfumo. (Anyone have any Wagon Wheels they could trade, by the way?) Tuku has evolved into more of a pop and mbaqanga musician than Mapfumo, but there’s still a touch of chimurenga and mbira in there. Mostly he’s just about simple, flowing acoustic guitar with nice harmonies on the vocals sung in Shona.

Oliver Mtukudzi – Dzoka Uyamwe
Oliver Mtukudzi – Todii