After four years on probation, Zuchu becomes Wasafi’s latest breakout star

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all — wrote American author Helen Keller in one chapter of her book, The Open Door.

Perhaps these are the words that crossed the mind of Zuhura ‘Zuchu’ Othman, 26, when she made the bold decision to drop out of university in India, to jumpstart her career in music.

The decision to quit university was a risky affair as she had to trick her mother, the revered Tanzanian Taarab sensation Khadija Kopa.

“When I made the decision to get into music, I was studying in India. I had completed my pre-university. I could not tell my mother that I didn't want to continue with my degree studies. So I told her I wanted to come back home and go to a college in Tanzania and she agreed,” Zuchu revealed in a recent interview with Times FM.

Die was cast

With this move, the die was cast and Zuchu had her plans in place, and to execute them, she had to be home, if not closer. Once back in Dar es Salaam, Zuchu took part in the Tecno singing competition in 2015.

She performed a number of songs, including her rendition of Wahu’s yesteryear hit, Sweet Love. Among the judges on the panel who were left impressed included Sauti Sol lead vocalist Bien Aime Baraza. She was destined for greatness. Zuchu wanted to be a music star and so she put in the work.

When the Tecno competition ended, Zuchu didn’t have much of a plan, rather than visiting different studios in Dar, as she tried to record music of her own. She had never dreamt of being signed by Wasafi Classic Baby (WCB) but only wished of an opportunity to work with the stars under the label, more so the pioneer Diamond Platinumz.

But as fate would have it, she ended up being the second female WCB signee when she was roped into the label in April 2020. “I met Diamond accidentally in 2016 just after the Tecno competition. One day my mother was going to meet with Diamond Platnumz and she told me -if you want to come with me, then let’s go,” she told Wasafi TV recently.

At Wasafi, Zuchu was introduced to Diamond and his team but the celebrated singer wasn’t going to take her in just because of her mother’s status, a veteran Taarab singer with over 30 years of experience and hundreds of songs.

Compose melodies

“Diamond was very keen on my ability to write lyrics and compose melodies. He asked me to go through a number of interviews to determine if I was good enough,” Zuchu recalled. She ended up being on probation at Wasafi for four years. It wasn’t an easy experience; always hanging around the studio, recording music that never got to see the light of the day.

As days went by, Zuchu grew frustrated with the long wait to her breakthrough and at some point contemplated quitting music. “Sometime in 2019, I gave up on music. Everything at the time seemed not to be working as I had expected, when I got a job offer. I told my mother that I was going to take up the job and she advised me not to, but rather to exercise patience,” she offered.

Zuchu listened to her mother but opted to serve two masters. She got employed but still created time to hit the studios as was the norm. But even as she exercised patience, a number of other record labels sought her signature. She declined.

“I declined not because I was at a label owned by Diamond Platnumz but because of their branding and PR policies. I felt WCB’s strategises in marketing an upcoming artiste were much better compared to the other labels that approached me. There is nothing good that comes out without proper branding and publicity,” she said.

Fast forward to 2021 and Zuchu is on everyone's lips. If you are not singing a line of one of her latest hit Sukari, then you must have heard of her name somewhere.

In Tanzania, she already got a new moniker, ‘The Queen of Wasafi’, dethroning Queen Darlin, who for the longest time held the title. So far Zuchu has released a number of hit songs and is currently riding high with Sukari, which amassed over 12 million streams on all digital platforms within two weeks of its release last month.

In July last year, WCB management revealed that in a span of one year since officially signing her, they had invested over Sh9 million on her music projects. Zuchu’s current rate card stands at Sh1 million for a performance in Tanzania and much more outside the country.