Proud Zimbo [Anhu Acho]

January was a great month in musical terms, great tracks were released. Judging by what we heard 2016 is going to be a big year for local music. Reviewed only 5 tracks in January namely: Tehn Diamond ft Simba Tagz - Bho Tsano , Stunner ft Jah Prayzah - Hatireve Nyambo , Tytan & Ammara Brown - Mukoko , Nutty O - My African Girl and Noble Stylz ft BlacPerl - PaPa   At the end of the month, I select the best five songs released that month. The ranking is weighted against my rating of the track coupled with the ratings given by random people in the streets. So here it goes: 5) Stunner Ft Jah Prayzah - Hatireve Nyambo The track is about saying no to poverty and working hard in order to make it. Stunner is urging Zimbos to stand up and work. Jah Prayzah laced the chorus with his signature voice. They all combine to make a great track. 4) Noble Stylz ft BlacPerl - PaPa Not much hype was made prior to the release of this track and many people have no idea of it...

Noble Stylz is ridiculously talented, personally l believe he is the best Shona rapper in recent memory. He got bars and punchlines for days, even Jnr Brown the so called punchline king doesn't get close to Noble Stylz. Noble is in a class of his own. The only thing missing for Noble is a visible brand/image that will make him stand out, he has so much street cred but less presence on the radio and TV. If he gets as much airplay as other rappers like, Tehn Diamond, Cal_Vin, Stunner...etc he will rule hip hop. On this new track he featured partner in crime BlacPerl, another talented rapper...the track is titled "Papa" ( Quite a controversial word in Zim ). So how does the track fare??? Casper Beats from Bazooka Studios is responsible for the productions of this one. The instrumental fuses modern hip hop elements with traditional elements. The end product is a great unique sound. The traditional mbira/marimba like instruments gives the track an African feel. Africa...

Zimbabwe is a largely dancehall country and for fans of reggae such as me we feel left out quite a lot of times. Nutty O decided to start his year on a reggae tip and you can imagine the smile on my face He had a brilliant year last year and is looking to build on that this year So how does the track fare?? I have a weakness for reggae music, especially lovers rock. Despite that this riddim is on point, it's well made, well mixed and mastered. Its international award winning standard. Respect to the producers behind this one. Nutty O owned the riddim. For someone who majors most in dancehall, a  track like this shows his diversity and  testifies to the immense talent this young lad has. His vocal ability is definitely beyond Zimbabwe, its better than what we hear on a daily basis. His vocals complimented the instrumental in an amazing way. Africa Gal is a love track. Nutty O is serenading a lady, praising her beauty, her lovely personality,and upright principles. ...

A new year is upon us and with it comes a lot of expectations. From a musical perspective the following are the artists l believe Zimbos should keep an eye on. There are many artists on the local scene and choosing the ones to look out for is quite hard but tried my best, don't be offended if l left out some artists you may think deserve some mention. So less chatter and lets get down to the serious stuff: Tehn Diamond  Mr Tehn has been teasing us for some time now and l personally think 2016 will be the year The Perfect Tehn finally drops. The local Hip Hop landscape is like a yo-yo, one year it seems as if it's improving then the next its on the downfall, if it was not for Cal_Vin hip hop would have died in 2015. Tehn's album is much needed now more than ever as local hip hop is now hanging by Cal_Vin. Also Tehn is living on the reputation of his SOTG mix-tapes, he need to show us he still got it or else he will become the guy that was great. Bho Tsano was a great...

Ammara is back yaaaaaaaaaaaay. Last year she gave us Havarare , announcing her arrival onto the local music scene. Havarare was well received by the masses and is still currently receiving airplay on all radio stations. Later in the year she collaborated with Tinashe Makura on the track Roar Zim Roar a song which urged fellow Zimbos to stand up and make Zim a country they are proud of. Now she's back again with a new joint !!! how good is it??? Mukoko was produced by Jusa Dementor and he did a wonderful job on this track. The track is on an afro-pop tip laced with some delicious guitar work. The guitar gave the track that distinct traditional/afro feel. The song is well made, audible and clean. Great work on the production. The track is basically two people flirting with each other, saying all the expected flirty juicy sexual stuff to each other. Enticing, teasing and seducing each other. Ammara is saying am not a little girl anymore am a lady now and my love is sweet...

The Tazoita Cash Record Boss Stunner has released his first track of 2016, featuring man of the moment Jah Prayzah who is riding high on the success of his Jerusarema album. This is a unique collaboration, a hip hop artists and a traditional artist!!! So what happens when the big boys meet for a collaboration???? The track fused hip hop and traditional elements to cater for the two artists. The end result of the fusion is quite a good and refreshing beat, not one which we hear everyday. The production in overall is standard. The track is about kuramba nhamo/saying no to poverty. Stunner is urging people to work hard in order for them to live the life they desire. Life is for those who are brave enough to face the challenges. If you relax and get comfortable poverty will take control of you. Powerful Truth.  Stunner delivered his signature style flow on this track and l have to say this time he nailed it. His rapping style and the instrumental complement each other ...

We literary spent 2015 waiting for the Perfect Tehn and just like the year before....we got nothing!!!. Towards end of the year Begotten Son tweeted that the Perfect Tehn is done and we should brace ourselves for we are about to be blown away.....and then..."sigh", three months later we still waiting to be blown away. Like really???!! this album better be  iconic. To calm down the anxious and now angry fans Tehn decided to drop Bho Tsano featuring Simba Tagz. Don't know if the track is a single from the album or its a stand alone single. So how does the Bho Tsano fare?? Loving the instrumental on this one, the beat is well made, chilled, laid back and just on point. Tagz showed he still got the Midas touch on this one. He was concentrating more on afro beats recently and its refreshing to know he still can make awesome hip hop beats like what he used to do. The track is very audible and good on the ear regardless of where you listening from. Thumps up to you Tag...

A happy new year to you all. Hope you all had a blast this festive season, my holiday was amazing. So ya 2015 was a much of a learning curve for me, it was the first year of my blog and am proud of what l have managed to achieve. The foundation for Proud Zimbo was made and certain milestones achieved. Created a Proud Zimbo (@proudzimbo) tweeter account and it helped a lot in reaching out to artists and fans alike. Managed to have conversations with many different people. Hoping to grow my audience and reach, there are many Zimbos scattered all around the world and  my hope is to reach them all, provide them timely updates, reviews and links to the best Zim has to offer. In the last half of the year managed to create a YouTube page for all the tracks that l have reviewed and it is performing extremely well, Zimbos truly appreciate good music. Hoping to start making videos for the channel, airing my thoughts and views on certain events and activities that will occur in th...