Copyright nehandaradio
HARARE – Zimbabwe is experiencing a growing trend of rogue influencers moving the nation in the wrong direction, a ticking time bomb for young, impressionable children who follow these “celebrities”. These young social media influencers are often referred to as ‘Ama2k’ or ‘Gen Z’ working in survival mode, and they will do anything to stay on top of the trends. Socialites such as Ritz Mcleish Strawbae, Colorful, Malloti, and Natasha Nyemba, including established artists like Holy Ten, Platinum Prince, and others have proved that they will do anything to trend on social media. Recently, Ritz had her nudes trending on social media. The general public claimed she had leaked it so she could trend. As always, she came on social media playing the victim card of being blackmailed. Speaking about her leaked video “Yesterday, around 4 am I tried to talk to the guy to remove the videos from his Telegram channel and Facebook… The guy akazofona on WhatsApp and demanded a lot of money of which ndaisatokwanisa kubhadhara.” Before this, the same Ritz had joined Dj Tawaz’s wagon of pouring honey and powdered milk all over her body to gain the attention of millionaire tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivayo. Heavily pregnant Malloti and her boyfriend Hulungende have been on a tour to insult everyone. They are now branded as the most insulting couple in Zimbabwe. They partner in insulting people who disagree with them. Colorful and Natasha Nyemba are also not so different from Malloti and her boyfriend. The two built their brands through insults and talking about what they do in the bedroom with their partners. On the music side, we have had artists like Holy Ten causing drama every single week just to stay relevant. He would go as far as insulting his wife calling her the B word in public. The real question remains. What will be the end of all these ‘bad influencers who chase dopamine over building legit man brands with longevity? Nehanda Radio caught up with P.R. and talent managers who shared their views on this growing trend of influencers building their brands through negativity. Jabulile Sigola of Hue80 Creative said as much as most of these influencers are entertaining to most people, but they are low-value influencers, and no serious people would work with them. “Every business wants to be associated with a clean brand. No one would come to these influencers with any business for them to advertise. “Their content is surely entertaining just to take off the mind from serious issues, but let’s also bear in mind that their content isn’t family-friendly at all. So they are just,” said Jabulile. Another talent manager, Tonderai Sxoop, said most of these influencers usually work with brands that want to do clickbait marketing, but no big or serious corporate brand would approach such influencers. She also added that their time in the industry is usually short-lived. “Dopamine chasers or I should say clout chasers, most of these influencers and artists don’t last long in the industry. No one with a big brand and a reputation to uphold would really want to work with such influencers unless it’s clickbait marketing;” said Sxoop. Diana Nheera, the founder of Star Key P.R. and Nutty O’s former manager, gave her views on the matter. She said, “In this digital age, attention has become a kind of currency, but not all attention builds value. A clean, consistent, and authentic brand is the true foundation of longevity, especially for musicians and influencers. “When young creatives rely on controversy, i.e., nudes, insults, or shock content , they might trend for a moment, but they lose the trust and respect that sustain a career. Your digital footprint is your permanent CV, and eventually, brands and audiences align with integrity, not noise.” It’s really sad that Zimbabwe is experiencing a rise in these kinds of celebrities who enjoy clout over having a solid brand that portrays the values of the nation. Young kids who follow these self-acclaimed socialites are the most endangered people.
