Posts

Showing posts from 2016

Album Review: Simba Tagz - Natural Selection

Image
Have been a big Tagz fan since I listened to his Black project a couple of years back, up to this day I still have some tracks from that album in my phone. It takes a lot for a song to be a permanent feature on my playlist but Tagz has managed to do that. After that he also delivered a superb Titans EP which he collaborated with Dutch. When he announced the release of his album, I was glad because his past projects Black & Titans have been awesome....the album finally dropped and got my copy and got the listening. So today ill be giving my thoughts and views on the album. The album contains 15 tracks and below is a track by track review. 1. Plenty The first track on the album is a lovely afro fusion. The guitar work gives the afro beat instrumental a nice dimension, love the instrumental. On this track Tagz is saying to his girl he will always be by her side so he wants all her love, he wants plenty of her love. The vocal performance from Tagz is on point, the vocals a

Album Review: Asaph - Kingsvilla 2

Image
Zim Hip Hop is a polarizing genre, it has its few loyal fans then for others its nearly non existent. For me most of the tracks are generic and they don't do it for me that much but now and then there comes an artist that just wows me and restores my hope in local hip hop. Asaph is one such artist, he announced his arrival with the Kingsvilla Album last year and got some heads turning. He then went on to release the follow up Kingsvilla2 and this time I decided to give myself a chance to listen to the album. After a couple of listens I was keen on making a review of the album, and get to share the project with fellow Zimbos. So ya today will be giving my thoughts on the album. The album contains 13 tracks and will be giving a track by track review . 1. City Hall Benches "Tamara voice note saying how much he misses his man Asaph and how much she is looking forward to seeing him..." This is a track for the ambitious and dreamers.  Asaph does not want to remain

Zim Hip Hop Awards 2016

Image
So the nominees of the Zim Hip Hop Awards for 2016 have been announced. Got to say the nominees seem well researched this year and that show a lot of growth on the part of the organizers. So before the awards ceremony on the 15th on December decided to nominate my winners on several categories. Without wasting time, lets get down to it. So below are the few selected categories I will be concentrating on and the winners in each category. People's Choice Jnr Brown Cal_Vin POY Asaph Schingy Ti Gonzi AWA GZE Stunner Best Radio DJ Krytic Igwe & Lampy (Diamond Fm) Mox (Star Fm) Butterphly (Power Fm) Prometheus (Power Fm) Danny That Guy (Zifm Stereo) Emmity Smooth (Power Fm) Best Gospel Jay Son Courtney Antipas General Jay Tee J Soildier Prophecy Best Promoter Jibilika In The City Prezo Zimboy Shoko Festival Best Diaspora Gt Beatz Flame Fleezy Draze YBK Karizma Best Producer Fun F

Album Review: Killer T - Bvunza Tinzwe

Image
Killer T released a monster album last year titled Ngoma Ndaimba and it went on to become the best Dancehall album on 2015. The only blemish to Killer T's near perfect year was Winky D's Gafa Life which came out in October and went on to rule the festive season. It pushed Killer T album off from the top position despite it being on top of the charts for 3 quarters of the year. This year he released a Pari Tricky singles compilation earlier in the year and it contained some big jams like Dai Zvaibvira and Takangodaro which will definitely be vying for track of the year. Many had thought that he was finished with 2016 but then he released the Bvunza Tinzwe Album. This time he released after Winky and it will be interesting to see which album will dominate the festive season. But this year its not only the two of them, Freeman released a hugely successful album earlier in the year titled Mangoma Ihobho which up to this point is still the best project of the year, Winky's Al

I Wish I Was A Musician

Image
I'm no that talented or skillful when it comes to music but there are many times when after listening to a certain song, I have this belief that i'm now skilled.  There are certain tracks which makes me wanna try being an artists as a "hobby". Today I'll be talking about such songs. So personally I want to learn to play the guitar and keyboard, will be buying my own personal set and start some lessons soon. Besides from wanting maybe to play at church there are some songs which always push me to wanna learn to play instruments. In terms of vocals, I'm no Trevor Dongo or Sanii but I can at least sing the very few amounts of discord, but well although the vocals are important, one can make any voice work!!!! So lets get to it?? So will be mentioning the different aspects of music and the songs that make me wanna learn that skill. Mbira   Hope Masike - Ndinewe This track is out of this world. I never get bored or tired of this jam....its a

Best Albums From Zimbabwe EP 5 : Icons Edition

Image
Had paused this series as I delved more into album reviews but now its time to return. Zim music like every industry has had its fair share of classic albums and it is my personal given duty to share such albums with other fellow Zimbos or anyone who wishes to learn more about Zim music. So to day will be giving you another 5 awesome albums from Zimbabwe, also will not be focusing a single theme but will be mixing it up. So lets get to it: 1 . John Chibadura & The Tembo Brothers - Dub Versions Tracklist: Mudiwa Janet, Usandivengere Simba Rangu, Mwari Matinyanya, Zuva Rekufa Kwangu, Varoyi & Ndiwe Wandaivimba Naye. Bob Marley's independence concert set alive a seed of reggae music among a lot of Zimbos. One such person was John Chibadura. Despite emerging in the golden age of Sungura he managed to become a household name with his reggae influenced sound. When one makes good music, there is no escaping it and who could resist the beauty and mastery of   Mudiwa J

Track Review: Raydizz Feat. Roberto & Simba Tagz - Don't Delay

Image
Raydizz gets a lot of respect for his skills behind the deck. Like many deejays he sometimes try out his talent when it comes to making music and that road has not been as successful as the deejay one. Despite being behind a number of tracks he is yet to win a lot of people with his music, but that does not stop him from making music. He has now released a new track titled Don't Delay  from his upcoming Passion Fruit EP and it features the Amarula hitmker and Showtime Rapper/Producer/Artist Simba Tagz. The lineup got me interested especially the producer lineup of Verseless and Jae Mac so downloaded my copy and got to listening. The two producers major in two different kind of sounds and styles so was looking forward to hear the end product. I'm a big fan of Verseless and his sound has a lot of the new age future elements and sounds despite the genre of the track. Jae Mac is more into hip hop. On this track they went for a dance pop kind of sound with a lot of dancehal

Track Review: Gze ft Sister Flame - Love Song

Image
Gze is arguably the best shona rapper out there at the moment!! Every time he goes behind the mic its fireworks. He has been delivering some of the best verses this year. His track Imhandu is definitely one of the best hip hop tracks of the year ( Imhandu Track Review ). With the massive social unrest happening around the capital Harare, Gze decided to share his thought on the happening, the effects and problems such unrest is causing. The track was produced by Nickbwai and he did a very good job. The track is emotional and the instrumental had to match the emotional nature of the jam and it did. The guitar work is superb, I don't know who was in charge of the acoustic guitar, maybe Sylent Nqo or someone else but regardless of who it was, they were superb. The arrangement is very good, the beat is clean and does not divert your attention from the vocals but it complements them. When the bass kicks in at the start it reminds me of the Changes riddim from Jamaica. All in all

Track Review: Prophecy ft Joel Chiweda - Suduruka

Image
Prophecy released his album Mask Off on the 5th of November this is the last single he released before dropping the album. I've been a huge fan of Prophecy since he released Hatiko Ikoko  last December ( Hatiko Ikoko Track Review ) and he followed that up with another super jam titled Kumusha ( Kumusha Track Review ) in May. It seems very song he releases is on point, the themes and production are always on point. Even if he did not give us a glimpse with this new single I was already waiting for the album. So how does the new jam fare?? is it as good as the previous two??? The track was produced at Shabach Studios, one of the most popular studios for gospel artists in the country. The instrumental is sounding good, its arranged quite well. It has a catchy lead which kind of induces to to dance to the jam. The overall production is done very well, its audible and balanced.  This track is aimed at all those people who were told they would not make it at whatever they wer

Video Review: Winky D - Disappear

Image
Last year in October when Winky D released his Gafa Life album little did he know that inside the album was arguably his biggest track to date. Disappear tore down the dancefloors all over Zimbabwe and Southern Africa, it was the track for the festive season in 2015, even up to now the song is still sounding fresh and is a guarantee to fill up the dancefloor. The song reached top spot on BBC Extra beating other celebrated East African heavyweights. Despite all that success the song lacked visuals, fans were waiting for the video for long and all hope to get one was lost. During the release of his new album Gafa Futi Chi Extraterrestrial ( Gafa Futi ChiExtraterrestrial Album Review l) Winky promised that he would release the visuals for Disappear before the new tracks.  2016 has seen a major step up when it comes to music videos on the local scene, we have seen some superb visuals such as ExQ ft Ammara Brown - Bhachura (Remix) , Jah Prayzah Ft Diamond Platnumz - Watora Mari , Tak

Track Review: Hope Masike Feat Sulumani Chimbetu - Tingwarire

Image
If you have been following my blog then you know I'm one big fan of Hope Masike, she has unique sense of sound, superb vocals and a matching unique personality & image. She is not convectional to say the least. On the other hand I'm also a huge dendera fan mainly due to the legendary Simon "Chopper" Chimbetu and was happy when Sulu took the reigns and proved he also can make some very good dendera music. With all I just said, you can definitely guess my reactions when I learnt that these two were working on a song together.....yep you guessed right..... was happy. So the song finally dropped and was immediately got to the listening and these are my thoughts on the track By the mere mention of the Gwenyambirakadzi Hope, I was expecting to hear some lovely mbira work and the into just put all those expectations to fruition. The saxophone, drums and bass then kicks in. The fusion is however not as smooth as I expected, its has a certain roughness to it. Love