VICTORIA FALLS — A 12-year-old boy from Chinotimba Township in Victoria Falls is set for stardom after a video of him singing at a funeral went viral on TikTok resulting in one South African musician inviting him for a collaboration.
Andrea Sibanda, a Grade 7 pupil at Chinotimba Primary School performed a very emotional song called Uhambo at a funeral and the video found its way to short-form video platform, TikTok where the original post gained more than 1,5 million views within a short period of time.
A South African artist Aubrey Qwana recently recorded a rendition of the song and has already gained more than 2 million views on the short-form video platform.
However, fans of the song on the platform have been demanding to have the young Andrea included in the song.
The Uhambo song is set to be recorded in the coming weeks, with plans to release it together with an official video by mid November 2021.
Zimbabwean born and SA-based artist manager and record label owner, Tendai Joe took it upon himself to search for Andrea, after he reportedly learnt that the boy is from Zimbabwe.
“I could not help repeating the song over and over and when I saw people arguing that the boy must be either Zulu or Ndebele, I took it upon myself to search for him.
“The first person I approached was a friend, Plot Mhako, a well-known Zimbabwean blogger and entertainment plug. He made it possible for me to connect with the family.”
Tendai Joe says he had to first seek permission to work with Andrea Sibanda from his parents who stay in Chinotimba Township (Victoria Falls), since he is a minor.
Both Andrea’s father and mother gave blessings to Joe assisting Andrea to record, release and distribute the song.
“We are looking at this song by Andrea as one of the potential top summer songs in South Africa.
“Many people relate to it and we will use our infrastructure and networks to ensure the projects gets the exposure it deserves, including radio and TV airplay,” added Joe.
Andrea is the second born in a family of four children, with an older sister who is 18 and two siblings aged seven and five months respectively.
“We are excited that someone has noticed our son’s talent and reached out to us. We think this is a blessing from God and we will pray so that everything goes well,” Ntando Sibanda (Andrea’s father).
“This is a good thing, we thank God. My child has a singing talent, we thank Mr Joe for reaching out and trying to help him. We hope everything goes well,” Sanelisiwe Ncube (Andrea’s mother).
Andrea’s single will be recorded and released under JBross Entertainment, with 100% proceeds from all activities related to the project going towards Andrea’s upkeep, education and future interests.
