Unpacking selected Zimbabwean popular songs as agenda-setting in unmasking the effects of occult wealth-seeking practice

Abstract

This paper examines the role of popular music in shaping public discourse on kuromba/ hurombwa, an occult wealth-seeking practice embedded within Zimbabwean socio-cultural realities. Situated within the context of prolonged economic instability, unemployment, and widening social inequalities, the study explores how musicians utilise lyrical narratives to expose, critique, and problematise the perceived dangers associated with occult wealth accumulation. In Shona cosmology, hurombwa is commonly associated with witchcraft, ritual sacrifices, and supernatural transactions believed to generate wealth, power, influence, and social prestige. Although often pursued as a means of attaining economic success and community recognition, the practice is simultaneously perceived as a source of social disintegration, mysterious deaths, failed marriages, psychological trauma, and intergenerational misfortune affecting both perpetrators and their families. Grounded in Agenda-Setting Theory, the study investigates how music functions as a cultural and ideological medium through which social anxieties, moral tensions, and communal fears surrounding occult practices are articulated and circulated within society. Employing a qualitative research paradigm and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the paper analyses purposively selected songs, namely “Baba NaAmai” (AlickMacheso) and “Kujatajata” (DT Bio Mudimba). The analysis focuses on the ways in which lyrical constructions, metaphors, symbolism, and narrative strategies are deployed to communicate the socio-moral consequences of hurombwa. The findings demonstrate that music transcends entertainment by functioning as a socially embedded communicative platform that shapes public consciousness, reinforces cultural values, and critiques ethically contested practices. The selected songs portray occult wealth-seeking as a deceptive and destructive pursuit that undermines family cohesion, communal harmony, and moral order. Furthermore, the study reveals that musicians act as cultural commentators and moral agents who mediate public understanding of social realities through artistic expression. The paper contributes to scholarship on music, culture, and communication.