Michael Simbarashe Chiunda (born September 11 1992), known professionally as Michael Chiunda, is a Zimbabwean writer, poet, rapper, singer, and activist.
Born in Mutare Michael Chiunda released his debut mixtape Before Dawn: The Sire in 2014 which got him some critical praise. He released two Eps in 2016, Suicidal Ideation: Colors and House Warming. The former became really popular in the Hip Hop circles but because of the subject matter would not find itself on mainstream media. In 2016 Chiunda was nominated for the Best Underground Artist at the Zimbabwe Hip Hop Awards.
2017 – Present In 2017 Chiunda dropped his name, on twitter, as Meyniak and officially rebranded to Michael Chiunda. He took hiatus from any creative work except for commissions to write and some corporate work. In 2018 he released one of his most popular song, The Story of Lochnation. The record was produced by Seengy, an American based producer and has excerpts of Vimbai Midzi’s vocals. The song later in the year became part of his 2018 catalog which also had songs like Black Magi, The Turtle Grass, Fireworks (Grand Piano Version), Ma Nna and One Chance with UK based producer-artist F.M. In 2019 Chiunda released the 2019 catalog and in September performed in Chitungwiza during the Shoko Festival. Earlier on in the year he had been part of the artists who performed at the HIFA/HIVOS organized regional event that catered for Mental Health. October of 2019 saw his song, Fireworks, being used as an original sound track in a documentary produced by the Digital Spaces Lab organization. He also dedicated a song to the Zimbabwean netball team for raising the flag high at the Netball World Cup. Chiunda hosted a number of poetry shows in Harare filling up some venues and helping push the envelope in the culture.
Chiunda is currently working on new content, and has a single which topped at number 2 on the radio hip hop chart show making Level Up his best charting record since the start of his career. In April 2020 he participated in an online festival performance to help make the stay at home experience faced by people during the COVID-19 pandemic. In same month he was part of a global awareness program that was challenging cat calling and street sexual harassment in different communities. He collaborated with other activists and artists while it was facilitated by an organization based in New York. As an activist Chiunda speaks on issues to do with socio-political rights such as one’s sexuality, policies and socio-economic status in the country. He uses his platform both online and in his art to address these topics.