Is Mic Inity finally paying for his misdeeds?

Is Mic Inity finally paying for his misdeeds?

By Nigel Pfunde

Reggae crooner Mic Inity ‘s career seems to be on a downturn if recent poor attendances at his shows can be used as a yardstick.

At his peak Mic Inity would fill up his traditional venues of Book Cafe and Red Fox.

He would charge a whooping $10 and still filled up venues. However this has since become a thing of the past.

The emergence of Zim dancehall has overshadowed roots reggae and Mic Inity has failed to change his set to fit in the new wave of Zim dancehall genre.

Critics said controversy and his bad boy mentality were some of the factors that killed his career. “Micinity was affected by fame and too much adoption of the Jamaican gangster lifestyle,” said one critic who preferred anonymity.

Music crossroads founder and talent scout Mathius Bangure told Showbiz that Mic Inity needed to rebrand.

“He is a talented young artiste and one of the best reggae vocalists but he needs to rebrand or maybe change his stage name,” said Bangure.

Mic Inity’s latest project titled Survivor has failed to survive the cut throat music industry and is a monumental flop.

Although it carries good tracks like Girl you look Good and A song for mama it has failed to penetrate the market.

He tried to make a comeback at The Volt on Fridays but it flopped and he seems to have lost his mojo.

However his former manager and top music promoter Robert ‘Robert Zee’ said Mic Inity did not wholesomely author his own calamity.

He cited a cocktail of factors and said he was optimistic that Mic Inity had hope since age was on his side.

“Arts is a very difficult game. It has its highs and it’s lows. In as far as Mic Inity is concerned I think one has to look at the whole industry to have a clearer perspective of what the reggae dancehall is like in Zimbabwe. In my opinion, all reggae bands and artistes have hit a lull in the past two years. This could be due to the fact that most promotions from 2012-2015 had been dancehall in nature and also the growth of Zim dancehall during the same period,” he said.

“I also noted that people gravitated towards DJs and selectors. So in essence, live reggae bands suffered a great deal when the tide turned as they are more expensive to run as opposed to DJs /selectors. Mic Inity’s case may also have been due to the bad publicity that surrounded him most of 2014 and 2015. I would not write him off yet as he is only 33 years of age,” he added.

Robert Zee also highlighted that the reggae music industry is known for having forgotten artistes rise again.

“I recently spoke to him from Norway where he is at the moment and I noticed a major change in his character. He will be back in October to release his album supported by a tour. Who knows, maybe the album will mark his resurgence. ”

The  timing is right as Zim dancehall seems to have lost momentum when one looks at the reduction of Zim dancehall shows lately. It may be reggae music again time now,” said Robert Zee.

Mic Inity could not be reached for comment as he was said to be out of the country.

Apart from his immense talent, many remember him for his bad temper and verbal attacks on scribes.

For several of his fans that remember his domestic issues that almost always hogged the limelight the feeling may as well be “Karma has finally caught up”.