By Tichaona Katsvamutima
Zimbabwean content creator and emerging musician John Gwenzi, 36, has turned to Artificial Intelligence to produce Conscious Reggae and Afro-Pop music, building a catalogue of 19 songs while warning that unequal access to technology could leave rural artists behind as AI reshapes the creative industry.
Gwenzi, (pictured) who is based in Scotland and has built an audience through videos and social commentary on Facebook and TikTok, has released an EP, two albums and a single using AI as part of his music production process.
His projects include Gwenzi Rakaviga Mambo Psalms, 14 Kilometers – St Barnabas, the seven-track Three Hearts and the single Dzoka Kumba.
“AI gave me an opportunity to transform ideas, lyrics and messages into music,” Gwenzi said in an interview with National Interest News
“It did not create my passion; it gave my passion another way to speak.”
His emergence comes as generative AI increasingly challenges conventional ideas about music creation and the role of singers, songwriters and producers.
Gwenzi, who does not consider himself a traditional musician or accomplished singer, said he regards AI as both a tool and collaborator rather than a replacement for human creativity.
“I do not simply throw lyrics into an AI system and accept whatever comes back,” he said.
“I bring the ideas, the words, the message and the creative direction, while AI assists with aspects of the production.”
His latest album, Three Hearts, explores love, family, emotional struggles and mental health.
Gwenzi said the project was inspired by a case involving a mother and her two daughters who were allegedly killed by the man they knew as husband and father.
Among the album’s tracks is Rudo Runokunda Ruvengo — Love Conquers Hate — which Gwenzi said reflects his desire to use music to encourage dialogue and compassion.
“If one person listens to my music and chooses love instead of hatred, understanding instead of judgement, or dialogue instead of violence, then the music has already achieved something meaningful,” he said.
But Gwenzi believes the rapid growth of AI also presents a challenge for Zimbabwe’s creative sector, particularly aspiring musicians in rural communities.
Access to reliable internet, digital devices, electricity and technological skills remains uneven, potentially giving urban-based artists a significant advantage as AI tools become increasingly important in creative industries.
“AI could widen the gap if access to technology, affordable internet, digital education and creative resources remains unequal,” Gwenzi said.
“A child in a rural village should not have less opportunity to create, learn and express themselves simply because of where they were born.”
The warning carries personal significance for Gwenzi, whose own interest in music began in rural Zvimba under Chief Chirau, Mashonaland West Province.
As a primary school pupil, he played a homemade guitar built for him by a worker at his family’s homestead.
He later attended St Barnabas Primary School, about seven kilometres from home — a childhood journey that eventually inspired the title 14 Kilometers – St Barnabas.
Gwenzi went on to study law, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce in Law from the University of South Africa in 2015 before eventually settling in Scotland.
Despite the technology now underpinning his music, he says Zimbabwean identity remains central to his work.
“Technology may be modern, but the values I bring through it are deeply rooted in where I come from,” Gwenzi said.
And while AI has helped him move from writing lyrics to releasing music, there is one ambition he says technology cannot deliver.
“Success would be standing on a stage and performing my music live before an audience,” he said.
For the former village boy whose first instrument was handmade, the journey from Zvimba to AI-assisted music may be unconventional.
But Gwenzi believes it could also be a glimpse of where Zimbabwean music is heading.
