Killer T ‘Dies’…But He Isn’t The First One!

The madness over the ‘death’ of dancehall chanter Killer T popularly known as The Chairman in Zimdancehall sectors has elicited mixed feelings.

The talented artiste was pictured well-tended to in a casket complete with a smashing tuxedo that made him definitely the sharpest looking person to ever have the Pearly Gates open for him by St Peter no doubt.

Beautiful Death...Killer T pictured in a casket

Many people found the pictures of the ‘dead’ Killer T to be distasteful and definitely out of sync with ‘cultural norms’-whatever those are.

In their view, ‘zvinoshura’- brings a bad omen, is taboo and should never be done that someone lies in a casket or coffin for reasons other than actually being destined for the netherworld.

If anything, Killer T, in his ‘date with death’ showed that he has become a serious artiste and his attempt to make his video to the Bvunzai Tinzwe song lock lips with reality means he now has graduated from the poor quality videos Zimdancehall has been curing and now wants to be taken seriously.

For a first, the props the producer had to get are absolutely difficult to get and that Killer T nailed it all right down to the final make up for the dead shows he is on a revolutionary tip in the world of making serious videos.

There was a time when people disapproved of acting in the times of Safirio Madzikatire popularly known as Mukadota and argued that ‘pretending to cry’ when one is not actually bereaved is also a taboo. Now, decades later, people are mature enough to understand the art of art imitating life in a bid to drive a point.

Those who think Killer T was off the mark are right. Except they should change their calendars and replace them with 1985 ones.

But while the west is awash with videos of people ‘playing dead’ in music videos from the award winning Tha Crossroad video by Bone Thugs n Harmony to movies like Death At A Funeral, Killer T is hardly the first person to ‘die’ and attract attention whilst breathing in a casket.

Tracey Zengeni, the songstress from the legendary production Musatize ‘The Project’ which she did alongside the late Conrad Nduna graduated in style last millennium and got away with it. Nay she even etched herself into the memories of all arts lovers in the country who caught wind of her shenanigans.

To top it all, her lying in the coffin got her an award and she was probably the first known trailblazer in the arts to be brave enough to face the closed casket and not fret all in the name of making precious art as part of Model Management.

She said in her own words from her base in the diaspora.

“Yes I did actually my dear I went to Doves Morgan and asked them for a coffin which they brought to (a Harare) hotel. The drama scene I was doing was of a vampire and I actually won best Drama scene for our graduation,” remembered Tracey.

“I was actually carried onto the stage in the coffin and left there and people didn't know what was happening until I came out and did my thing and finished and went back into the coffin and was carried out again!”

“It was weird because the Doves manager was so thrilled that I was doing something like that he came and watched. They actually brought the coffin in a hearse to the hotel!”

So Killer T has made a statement and it is one that any arts respecting person should stand up and applaud.

Besides, going to meet your maker in heaven is arguably the biggest event of anyone’s life. Big up to the chairman because any good event deserves at least a little bit of great well-thought-out rehearsal.

And if anyone can look that good and content after death, perhaps death ain’t so bad after all!