Gazza (musician)

Gazza (left) with a German fan in the Windhoeker Post Street Mall (2013)

Gazza , real name Lazarus Ndeshimona Shiimi (born March 10, 1977 in Oshakati ), is a Namibian musician and interpreter of the Kwaito .

Shiimi received his stage name Gazza in the form of a nickname when he was still an active soccer player and was nicknamed Gazza by his teammates based on the English soccer idol Paul Gazza Gascoigne because of his alleged skills on the field . Gazza had been interested in music since early childhood and was therefore active in choirs and bands from elementary school.

Gazza is also a music producer and songwriter . He only interprets works that he has written himself.

Gazza was raised by a single mother with seven siblings and grew up in relatively poor conditions. His father died early, and Gazza spent much of his youth herding goats.

Musical direction

Gazza's early role models during his youth were mainly MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice . After graduating from school, he began studying economics in Cape Town , South Africa , for which his entire family had saved. Nevertheless, he broke off this course after a short time and returned to Namibia. There he worked as a casual worker and composed his first musical works on the side.

Until he found his actual musical style, the Kwaito, Gazza was active in many different musical styles at a young age. In retrospect, these experiences contributed to his nowadays strongly developed ability to incorporate different styles into his musical works. In contrast to this, Gazza has always followed a clear line with regard to the thematic content of his music, whereby the life of poorer Namibians as well as life in poorer urban districts is preferred . Another characteristic of Gazza's music is the recurring combination of modern and traditional rhythms in the same song.

present

With more than 26,000 records officially sold to date (as of?) , Gazza has now risen to become the most commercially successful Namibian musician. His album Cosa Nostra (La Familia) , released in 2010 and with an edition of 6000 copies, was sold out in 2012 and the original is no longer available in Namibia.

Gazza broke that magical barrier for the first time with a million views for its music video Chelete in 2019.

Live performances and media impact

Due to its popularity, Gazza has now performed live in almost every African country and has also performed outside of Africa. In Namibia, Gazza has become a constant public figure in print media , radio and television over the years .

Rivalries and criticism

For many years there has been a great rivalry between the two Namibian music labels GMP and Mshasho . In this regard, Gazza has repeatedly released musicians from his label in the past who, in his opinion, moved too close to Mshasho . However, more and more criticism from the inner workings of the GMP label has recently been brought to the public, with the alleged poor payment of the artists associated with the label being emphasized. In addition, Gazza is said to tend to react extremely jealously with regard to the personal success of the “newcomers” he has sponsored and, in some cases, to put considerable hurdles in the way of international appearances. This criticism is now even spreading to the numerous projects socially supported by Gazza, as potential beneficiaries are increasingly bringing up Gazza's alleged selfishness in public.

In October 2010, Gazza was accused of ordering an assassination attempt by the Namibian artist Jericho , who had previously defected against the rivalry between GMP and Mshasho in Gazza’s eyes. Gazza denied all allegations.

music producer

In 2003 Gazza started his own music label, the GMP, short for Gazza Music Productions cc . From the beginning, he saw his music label as a platform that should enable young Namibian artists to perform, promote and expand their musical skills. A new generation of Namibian musicians should therefore be single-mindedly promoted by the GMP label.

Discography

• Tanauka (2004)
• Zula 2 Survive (2004)
• Stof-lap-Chikapute (2005)
• GMP Till I Die (double album, 2007)
• Cosa Nostra (La Familia) (2010)
• The Boss (2011)

Others

In cooperation with the First National Bank, Gazza is committed to the sustainable education of young Namibians and to road safety . Gazza has been an official ambassador for the Namibian Ministry of Education for a long time. As part of government projects such as Future Forward & Future Save , he has now visited more than 30 Namibian schools to emphasize the importance of comprehensive education.

In addition, as a member of Team Namibia , Gazza advocates the preferential purchase of products that are produced in Namibia in order to contribute to general prosperity and economic growth.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} Gazza on his official homepage Gmp.com.na ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 9, 2012 (English) 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Web.com.na (2008): Gazza under siege as GMP overspends by half a million [1]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 9, 2012 (English)  
3. ↑ Gazza's 'Chelete' Hits 1 Million Views. The Namibian, March 19, 2019.
4. ↑ Geo.de (2008): Kwaito-Star Gazza [2] , March 9, 2012
5. ↑ Informante (2011): Bossy Gazza home alone [3] , March 9, 2012 (English)
6. ↑ Namibian Sun (2011): StreetKidz divorce GMP for Inzinyoka [4]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 9, 2012 (English)  
7. ^ Informante (2010): Gazza? S right hand man Chris-Paul admits savaging Jericho. . . GMP says it was an unfortunate incid [5] , March 9, 2012 (English)
8. ↑ Namibian Sun (2011): Launching The Boss archive link ( memento of the original from December 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 9, 2012 (English)