Harare — Former street theatre actor Conwell Ndlovu, popularly known as Bhabhalazy, has ventured into music.

The comic star has since released an album titled "Celebrate Zimbabwe Volume 1" backed by a group called Focus Entertainment. Ndlovu said the album was bankrolled by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and features the title track "Celebrate Zimbabwe" that describes the beauty, which the country is endowed with.

He described his music as kwaito-house and he sings in Shona, isiNdebele, Tonga and English to capture a wide audience. "I had to sing in all the major languages in the country for everyone to understand my message and I had to dedicate the Tonga songs to my fellows in Binga," he said.

Born and raised in Binga, Bhabhalazy started acting at a tender age of nine when he featured in a play titled "Children Living in a World Without Parents due to HIV and Aids", a project which was funded by Save the Children-UK.

The 25-year-old singer grew up under difficult conditions and could not finish his education due to lack of funds. "It was really difficult since my mother had passed away when I was a young boy and I had to struggle to sustain myself," he said. He joined Freddy "Kapfupi" Manjalima soon after relocating to Harare and that signalled the beginning of his acting career.

Ndlovu said acting has opened up a number of opportunities for him including becoming a member of the Binga Aids Action Committee and taking part in a number of programmes that were funded by Save the Children-UK. The multi-talented Bhabhalazy is also a soccer player and in 2000 he played for Smirnoff Tigers, when he was employed by the distilling company.

He is the only member of his family who has ventured into the arts, while the rest have chosen to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Bhabhalazy has participated in roadshows and has done health promotional plays for PSI, IOM and International Video in 2007. Among the songs on his latest album are "Africans Unite", "Malaika", "Ntombi", "Hapana Chinofamba", "Bvuma" and "Bafana Bafana", a song dedicated to the South African national team.