| Intro | Zimbabwean musician |
| Was | Songwriter |
| From | Zimbabwe |
| Type | Music |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 1968 |
| Death |
4 February 1999 (aged 31 years) |
Funuel Tazvida, best known as System Tazvida, was a Zimbabwean musician very popular in his home country mainly in the 1990s, though not as well known internationally. Tazvida wrote and performed songs mainly in his native Shona tongue.
Tazvida was best known for his hits Anodyiwa Haataure and Mushandi Ndimambo. However, it was his 1993 hit Rudo Tsika Nemagariro which propelled him to national stardom.
Tazvida had played with various bands including the Khiama Boys, the Mabhauwa Express and the Sungura Boys before he formed the Chazezesa Challengers. The Challengers included his brother Peter on bass, a former member of Nyami Nyami Sounds, guitarist LeeRoy Lunga, who had played with the Super Sounds and the Kasongo Band, and Lucky Mumiriki as percussionist, who had played with the Hurungwe Sounds and the Sungura Boys.
The band blended elements of sungura, jazz, South African mbaqanga and traditional music. They recorded several successful albums in the mid-to-late 1990s, their first being Rudo Tsika Nemagariro, which sold more than 20,000 copies. Their album Mutunhu Unemago sold more than 30,000 copies. Popular songs included Anodyiwa Haature, Mabhauwa, and Vaforomani. They were also popular in Mozambique, and toured there.
The band experienced two deaths in quick succession, as drummer Wezhira Shoko and talismanic leader System Tazvida both died near the turn of the millennium. The group has continued without System and Wezhira. Since their deaths they have produced three albums, including the tribute record Panopfungaira Pane Moto in honour of their former leader. The band assumed a new name, Boyz dzeSmoko, in which “Smoko” is an acronym for “simple music of Kanindo origin”, the name Tazvida gave to his style of music. System’s successor and younger brother Peter died in 2002. The group continued under the leadership of Lee Roy Lunga and released their twelfth album, Smoko Pachena/Chabvondoka, in December 2002.