Garry Mapanzure

Born Garry Garikai Munashe Mapanzure in Harare, Zimbabwe, Garry grew up in church to pastoral parents and it is in church where he discovered his singing ability and honed his talent. He attended Kyle Preparatory School and continued to primary and high school at the same institution.[1][2]

Mapanzure started his musical career in late 2017 and released his first single Wapunza which as of October 2023 has been viewed over 4.3 million times on YouTube.[3]

2019 saw the contemporary artist being nominated for an AFRIMA award in the Best Artiste, Duo, or Group in African R'N'B & Soul category for his song TV Room, a collaboration with Hillzy.[4]

In November 2018, he entered the emPawa Africa challenge created by Mr Eazi to help up-and-coming African artists launch their careers. To enter the contest, artists had to upload a short video of themselves performing either an original song, cover, or freestyle.[5] Mapanzure won and became the tenth emPawa Africa pick, the first ever from Zimbabwe. Through this initiative, Mapanzure released Slow, which was then uploaded onto the emPawa YouTube channel.

In an interview with All Africa, Mapanzure described his sound as "Afropop", a fusion of Pop and Afrobeats.[6][7]

Mapanzure was studying Architectural Design at North China University of Technology[4] before being signed to London-based record label, Runabeat Music. Under the label he released his first EP, Sushi Season: The First, in March 2020. His first world tour scheduled for March 2020 to support the EP's release was cancelled due to the global outbreak of coronavirus. Mapanzure resided in London, working on future music audio and visual projects until the coronavirus pandemic would pass. He spoke in Shona, one of the languages spoken in Zimbabwe.

Garry Mapanzure died from injuries sustained in a traffic accident in Masvingo, on 13 October 2023. He was 25.[8]

• List of Zimbabwean musicians