Best Vernacular Rappers

- January 30, 2015

This is a list of the best rappers in Zimbabwe who rap in their mother language. The list is not in any order, and is as follows.

Stunner : TCR Boss. Regarded by many as the best vernacular rapper the country has to offer. He has a long list of hits to back that. Some of the Hits are: Hameno, Rudo Rwemari, Song Yangu, Godo, Team Hombe, Cross Country....etc. His songs Team Hombe and Godo were voted song of the year in the year they were both released.Despite rapping mainly in Vernacular he is undoubtedly the biggest hip hop artist in Zimbabwe. Owner and leader of the Tazoita Cash Records label.
Jnr Brown : A product of Tazoita Cash Records, He is now regarded as the current best Shona rapper in Zimbabwe mostly coz of the success of his songs Mariaa, Madrinks, Phil Chiyangwa..etc. Last year he was part of a hip hop group Few Kings and their album The Feeling Aint Fair won album of the year at the Zim Hip Hop Awards and their song Madrinks was nominated for best song.He features in a lot of songs and he always delivers, hitting us with some dope bars and showstopping punchlines. He is fondly known as 'Breezy' by his fans.
Noble Styles : Hails from the small town of Masvingo. Got jaw-dropping punchlines. His song Dhuku Rechembere from his debut album Masofa panze, earned him the name king of wordplay. Wherever he features his bars and punchlines will always mesmerize. He is more of an underdog mostly due to that he comes from a relatively small town. Definitely he is the pride of Masvingo Hip Hop. His new album Masofa Panze 2 is doing pretty well and earned him a nomination on the Zim Hip Hop Awards.
Alishias 'Maskiri' Musimbe : Regarded as the Eminem of Zimbabwe. His controversial lyrics has won over the hearts of many people around the country. He is coined the Godfather of Zim Hip Hop. He has a long list of hits such as : Tambudzai, NaMwari, Wenera, Madam Mombeshora...just to mention a few. Most of his stuff is explicit hence it is not played on radio stations but that does not chase away the fans, actually they love him for that, he is the ultimate bad boy. However that has hurt his corporate image as few endorsements seems to go his way. He is also regarded as the best Hip Hop artist in the country a post he competes with Stunner.
Cal_Vin (Dat Luveve Boy) ; Hails from the City of Kings & Queens. Bulawayo is regarded as the rap capital in Zimbabwe due to the many underground artists there. Calvin is relatively new to the mainstream Hip Hop scene with his breakthrough song being his collaboration with Stunner on the song Mabhebhi Ekuno. Last year he made an appearance on the Hip Hop awards as he performed his song Grind China ft Gimel.
YOZ : Mostly seen besides his buddy Dancehall father Shinsoman. He is a versatile shona rapper as he can rap on any beat be it Hip Hop or Dancehall. He was snubbed for the Hip Hop awards 2013 and he made clear his frustrations, that year was his best year to date. He had the hit song Madhuve ft Trevor D. He has gone quiet this past year and currently he is not promising any new material. We keep waiting for YOZ to give us another Madhuve.
Gze : This fella entered the song the Hit song Yzia, which became an car anthem all around the nation, he featured Jnr Brown on that track. He also released the song Rusambo ft Alkanemo became his next chart topper. The guys has awesome word play and has a ghetto feel to his rapping a fact that makes him relate to the many Zimbos. He also featured on the Hitsong Mariia by Jnr Brown. This year he released a song called Mushikshika(Ghetto Life) a song which is fast becoming a classic and has a great video to accompany it.
Marcques : His song Zunguza was super hit and it was his first mainstream single. The song was nominated for song of the year at the Zim Hip Hop awards in 2013, He won best newcomer that year. The track topped charts on several radio stations. He hails from the City of Progress Gweru. Currently his song VIVA ft Smylie is a club banger. He seems to be moving from strength to strength and tuning hit after hit.