Jusa adds another feather to artistry
By Nigel Pfunde
The man behind Jamaican Red Rat’s hit Rise up Zimbabwe Tawanda Sibotshiwe aka Jusa Dementor has added another leaf in his glittering career with an artistic illustration of Evan Mawarire titled Captain Zimbabwe has gone viral.
The illustration grabbed the attention of renowned international media houses like the BBC.
In the animation, Jusa depicts Mawarire dressed in an apparel similar to the cartoon character Captain America.
Showbiz hooked up with Jusa and he explained the inspiration behind the animation.
The Mabelreign bred artiste said he grew up watching cartoons like Voltron and Captain Planet where super heroes were portrayed.
It is in that light that he was inspired to create the Captain Zimbabwe animation.
He said he was inspired to do this version as a way to give Zimbabwean kids a point of reference they can relate to based on the recent events in the country.
Jusa said as he grew up the cartoons he used to watch gave him an understanding of the fight between good and evil.
However this was always portrayed in a Western context.
“We never had our own home bred legends or heroes shown in animation. I believe we need to animate and tell stories of our own legends like Chaminuka or the Great Zimbabwe Empire. By doing this we can instill morals and values while teaching our children our own history in this manner,” he said.
Jusa was quick to emphasise he was apolitical but was a mere artist and patriot as evidenced by his mission of exporting local music to the world.
Born in1983, Jusa is the co-founder of Abra Records and he started his music career during his high school days at Kutama College.
Then, he was going by the stage name Sibho the Clever Rat.
He recorded his first song in 1999 soon after completion of his O level alongside Dragga and his sister Chipo Bespoke.
He then relocated to the United Kingdom in 2002 to study multimedia.
To date, he has worked with several local and international artistes under his Abra Records banner with his cousin Abra Simmz (Simukayi Mandizvidza).
He is also behind the production of Tytan and Ammara Brown’s hit song Mukoko
