Soul Jah and Wife
The recent fallout between the award-winning Mbare chanter, Saul Musaka, affectionately known as Soul Jah Love, and his manager, Courage Zikhali, has opened a can of worms. Though witchcraft and drug abuse have been cited as the reasons for the fallout between the two, Zikhali’s alleged courtship of Soul Jah Love’s wife, Bounty Lisa, has emerged as the major bone of contention between the two.
According to Soul Jah Love, what really irked him is that Zikhali asked his wife out, hence the fallout. “What really pissed me off is the fact the he wanted to court my wife, but she refused. He saw that she is a hard nut to crack, but, above all, that I am not hurt by what he did. I will just let by-gones be by-gones,” said Soul Jah Love.
Soul Jah Love also claims that he saw strange things at their rented house and heard strange sounds in the Hummer. But his most shocking claim is that Zikhali shoots pornographic movies at his Glen View offices. Zikhali denied all the allegations and threatened to take the musician to the “cleaners”. “If he experienced all those strange things as he claims, why did he keep staying in the house and driving the same car? And according to my knowledge, he is still staying in the same house,” he said.
Zikhali also dismissed Soul Jah Love’s claims that he attempted courting Bounty Lisa. “She is way below my class and, besides, I am content with my wife.” Before they entered into the management contract, Zikhali is said to have advised Soul Jah Love against taking the infamous cough syrup, commonly known as “Bronco”, mainly because of his health condition and that it was bad for business. And Soul Jah Love is said to have agreed to stop taking it. When the dancehall artiste went to the UK a few weeks ago, Zikhali went to Soul Jah Love’s rented residence in Houghton Park and found a carton of the cough mixture in the house and he threw it away.
Then, a cold war began with Soul Jah Love pouring all sorts of insulting words on Zikhali for throwing away his most treasured drink.
“He insulted me using unprintable words whilst he was in the UK, but as professional as I am, I told him to come back and we talk about it if ever he had a problem with what I did,” said Zikhali. “He said he can’t perform ‘hauite hauite’ without taking ‘bronco’. He reiterated that ‘bronco’ is what keeps him going.” The dancehall chanter is said to be diabetic.
Soul Jah Love insisted that his personal life has nothing to do with anybody. “It’s my personal life. It’s none of your business,” he said when asked about the alleged drug abuse. Could Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa’s prophesy on Soul Jah Love be coming true? Prophet Makandiwa is said to have foretold that Soul Jah Love will become famous with his music but will not make money out of it. Zikhali publicised the prophecy.
It cannot be denied that Soul Jah Love is famous and probably the most-sought-after Zim dancehall artiste at the moment. But the question to be asked is, can it be proven that he is really making money out of his musical career?
Could the failure to make money be of his making? The artiste is legendary for not attending scheduled shows, which has led the showbiz industry to lose faith in him. Soul Jah Love, however, cited his health condition as the reason for not showing up at some shows.
“My diabetic condition prohibited me from attending scheduled shows, but I didn’t want to expose myself hence I ended up chewing my pride,” he explained. “It’s obvious that when you give people an excuse that you are not feeling well, they will always rubbish it.”
A few months after their union, the dancehall artiste and Zikhali are parting ways over contractual disagreements.
Soul Jah Love was signed under Allied Artists Movement that is owned by Zikhali. For the short period that the two worked together, Zikhali made sure that Soul Jah Love and his wife Bounty Lisa lived a “Hollywood lifestyle” – driving a Hummer, paying for their accommodation and food while also paying a monthly salary of US$1 500, among many other things.
But why did Zikhali take the risk of cushioning Soul Jah Love? Was it because he was making much more from the shows he organised for the artiste?
“What we had with Soul Jah Love was a business deal, nothing more, nothing less. I can’t say I was benefiting from the deal because like any business deal, it matures and brings in returns after some time,” explained Zikhali.
“With Soul Jah Love I actually incurred expenses because sometimes he would not turn up for shows and I would be forced to reimburse the show promoters.”
Zikhali added that even though he knew that Soul Jah Love had tainted his reputation by not turning up at shows, he still believed in him and thought he could make him a better person. The Zim dancehall chanter claimed that after his six-month fruitless affair with his previous management, he had resigned to fate and was no longer eager to have a manager, but Zikhali begged him to consider him.
“I never begged Zikhali to be my manager, but he came to me almost four times asking to be my manager. “When it became viral that I don’t turn up for shows, I was advised to get a manager, that is when I considered him due to his persistence,” said Soul Jah Love.
“In fact I don’t want to talk about Zikhali because it irritates my ear.” The chanter added that it was their first month working together, but Zikhali had already duped him.
In his defence, Zikhali said their union was purely professional and both of them had entered into it willingly. “For Soul Jah Love to attend a scheduled show, it was a mammoth task. You just had to baby sit him for things to happen,” explained Zikhali. Unfortunately for Soul Jah Love, Zikhali threatened to stop his shows on the grounds that he is still working under Allied Artists Movement.
“According to our contract, Soul Jah Love is not supposed to organise any show without our knowledge because he is not working as an independent entity.
“I have the right to stop any show that he is going to perform until he comes forward and terminates the contract,” emphasised Zikhali.
Soul Jah Love is not moved an inch by Zikhali’s threats.
“I will manage myself,” he stressed.
Article Culled From The Sunday Mail.
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