White Masters and Black Servants: A Decolonial Analysis of Winky D’s “Happy Again” Music Video

Abstract

In December 2021, Zimbabwean musician Winky D (born Wallace Chirumiko) released the video to his song “Happy Again.” While many cheered the release, the “Happy Again” video was not immune to criticism. Drawing on concepts of coloniality and decoloniality as well as framing theory, this article uses thematic analysis to deconstruct the kinds of selections that perpetuate coloniality that were spotlighted and made noticeable in the “Happy Again” music video. Further, the article discusses the implications of such depictions as well as proposes possible representations that could have been less problematic. By focusing on race, this article contributes to scholarship on representations in Zimbabwean music which has predominantly examined portrayals of gender. Considering that Winky D’s artistic creation lives on YouTube where many continue to view it, this article relies on cultivation theory to justify why contesting and rejecting the problematic depictions of Blackness and Whiteness in the video is urgent. Despite the British formally leaving Zimbabwe at the country’s flag independence in 1980, the framing of Blackness and Whiteness in the video shows a continuation of imperialist ideas that anchored the colonial project. White people are framed as affluent masters while Black individuals are portrayed as poor servants. These representations have potentially deleterious consequences when embraced by credulous and unwary audiences. The article concludes by highlighting its contributions to nuancing theories used to scaffold the analysis.