Rochford Josphat fondly known as Roki is a versatile musician, song writer, and dancer who among other artistes popularized the Urban Grooves genre in the New Millennium. The controversial but talented artist made a name when he featured on Leonard Mapfumo’s hit song ‘Seiko’ which topped the charts in the early 2000s.
He was born on 7 July 1985 in Madagascar and raised in Park Town, Waterfalls in Harare
Roki is the second born and only son in a family of three. He has sisters named Olga and Belinda.
His mother was Florence Josphat. She was employed by the Zimbabwe National Army’s transport department before she retired. Roki’s father Herbert Dustin Josphats was a soldier. She died in 2017.
After a successful collaboration with Mapfumo, the talented artist went on to release his first single ‘Suzanna’ in 2001 which became an instant hit. In 2003 his talent was handsomely rewarded when he received a National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) for the Most Promising Artist for 2003.
Roki went on to release a string of hits such ‘Ayawo’ which proved popular among the youth. In 2007, the charming artist released his first album which carried the hit “Chidzoka”. The video to the song was voted the best video of the year while the song itself was voted the best song of the year in 2007.
In a recent interview with 263times , Roki reiterated how he seek to now go regional on his music career.
“We want to try international participation for our music. It’s nice to compete among each other locally but it is very lame because at the moment we have 14 million Zimbabweans but there are other population, so that’s the plan to look into SADC. ” He said.
He however attributed his success to God, thanking self proclaimed, prophet Passion Java for financially helping him back on his feet.
“Passion Java is the man Dog, when he comes along, things just happen. The man of God got me an E320, Benz,
“All glory to the Almighty God. It is a miracle that I am here today.” He added.
Roki recently released a single, Uchandifunga through Passion Java’s record label which surpassed more than 1.3 million views on YouTube in less than a week, the first ever record in Zimbabwean music history.
This has spiked controversies among Zimbabweans with many accusing Java of using YouTube view bots to boost view count.
