Lazarus Shiimi (born 10 March 1977), known by his stage name Gazza, is a
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
n musician.
Career
Born in
Oshikuku,
[Tonchi, Victor, L.; Lindeke, William A.; Grotpeter, John J. (2012) ''Historical Dictionary of Namibia'', Scarecrow Press, , p. 136] Gazza grew up in a family of seven. As a soccer lover, he nicknamed himself Gazza after famous
English soccer player
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...
.
After completing high school he went to study marketing at
Boston Business College in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, South Africa where he advanced his love for
Kwaito music.
His music can be defined as a mix of several influences namely
kwaito,
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
, and
hip hop,
and his lyrics are about township life.
Gazza toured the United States and Canada, performing in Canada and shooting his reality TV show in New York and Los Angeles as well as a music video called ''Wambo in New York'', making the first Namibian artist to shoot a video and reality show in America. He became the first Namibian artist to have a reality show on the Namibian Broadcasting Channel NBC, named ''Just Whyling''. He received a car endorsement by KIA MOTORS.
To date, he has released 19 albums. His 10th album titled ''Ondjila – Long Journey'' was launched at The Hage Geingob Stadium on 11 October 2014.
Gazza also serves as a Goodwill Ambassador of Education sanctioned by the Ministry of Education,
[Gazza Goes Kwaito Again]
, ''Namibia Economist'', 1 February 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2018 and as an Ambassador for Team Namibia, as well as the Back To School Campaign (at the office of the Prime Minister). In 2016 he took part in a
United Nations Information Centre Windhoek campaign to get people to save water by taking shorter showers.
Gazza owns Gazza Music Productions, which releases music by Tequila and Dj Shoza, and a clothing line. 2009 saw him launching a range of nine different flavoured sparkling
mineral water branded "G-fresh".
His twelfth full-length album, ''Misunderstood'', was set for release in November 2018.
Discography
*''Tanauka'' (2004)
*''Zula to Survive'' (2004)
*''Stof-Lap Chikapute'' (2005)
*''467/GMP Till I Die'' (2007)
*''Still The King'' (2008)
*''Cosa Nostra: Lafamilia'' (2009)
*''Seelima'' (2011)
*''Boss'' (2011)
*''Blood, Sweat and Tears'' (2013)
*''Ondjila'' (Long journey) (2015)
*''Pumumu'' (2016)
*''Misunderstood'' (2018)
*''Road to Messiah'' (2021)
Awards
Gazza won an award for best Kwaito Music Video at the Channel O Spirit of Africa Music Awards held in Johannesburg. JCC Namibia also honoured him with the most outstanding young Namibian Award shortly after his return from South Africa.
His 2005 album ''Stof-Lap Chikapute'' saw him receive a total of 10 musical awards in one year - six Sanlam NBC Music Awards, three Namibia music awards, and a best performance award by the city of Windhoek in 2006. This is the most awards received by a Namibian artist in one year.
In 2006 he received six awards at the Sanlam NBC Music Awards 2006, including Artist of the Year. He also won three awards at the Namibia Music Awards (NAMAS).
He won a
Channel O African Music Award for Best Kwaito for his hit song "Mokasie" in 2007.
''Cosa Nostra: Lafamilia''won three awards at the
Namibian Annual Music Awards
The Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMA) ceremony was the biggest awards ceremony in Namibia. It was established in 2011 by MTC Namibia and the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). They would award a NAMA trophy to musicians in recognition ...
(NAMAs) with "Shukusha" from the album winning 'Best Music Video of the year 2011'.
''The Boss'' album won three NAMAs in 2013, best house, best music video and best collaboration with Cho Cho, L'vovo, Bah,
Big Nuz and Shota.
The album ''
Blood Sweat and Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Ny ...
'' saw him win two awards at the Namibian Music Awards (NAMAS), including Male Artist of the Year and Best Video for the song "Kwateni Omnona".
In 2017, he won four Namibia Annual Music Awards (NAMA) - Male Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Album of the Year (for ''Pumumu''), and a Special Recognition Award for his contribution to the Namibian Music industry over the past 15 years.
Gazza sweeps at 2017 NAMAs
", lelamobile.com, 30 April 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2018
References
fia(2022)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gazza
20th-century Namibian male singers
Living people
1977 births
Kwaito musicians
People from Oshana Region
21st-century Namibian male singers