Written By: Jamelia Mmari—Earlier this year, Afri-pop group Freshlyground made headlines, with what has to be the most talked about South African music video of the year, Chicken To Change, in which the group teamed up with ZA News to create a music video challenging Robert Mugabe's presidential reign. The video depicts Mugabe as a shining star, who somewhere lost his way, with scenes depicting an out of touch Mugabe riding in the back of a chauffeur-driven presidential car and reading a newspaper, “Bob's Times” with the headline: “Glorious victory for Zanu-PF.” Underscoring the political tone of the video, the Freshlyground chime in with pointed lyrics such as “An iridescent example of honour for the coming generation... You promised always to open the doors for us... Indeed it is you and only you who sleeps with the key... You are chicken to change!” In case you missed it, here's the video:
'Chicken to Change' Freshlyground / ZA NEWS music video from ZANEWS on Vimeo.
Freshlyground is comprised of seven members hailing from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Sarah Barnett, a spokeswoman for the group, said they “believe in freedom of speech and that people should be able to talk about topics that affect many civilians ... The video is not an attack on Mugabe at all. It is a tongue-in-cheek challenge for him to reflect on things and become the hero he used to be, to consider his actions and surprise us. We are not afraid of his reaction. Why should we be in a democratic world?”
