EP Review: Takura - Stripped EP

Local hip hop had reached a stagnant state over the past couple of months and some revival was desperately needed for the genre. Last year we witnessed the rise of Cal_Vin, he kept the game going and was rewarded for his efforts as he took home all the major awards at the Zim Hip Hop Awards. I always believed that new artists are needed to push the genre forward becasue the so called big guys have done all they could but new blood is needed to reach the next stage. Takura is one such new blood. He was in game for a couple of years as the other half of Soul Afrika but then this year he went solo and announced his arrival into the hip hop genre with the monster jam ZinO Irema. He then released his EP titled Stripped, like everyone who is passionate about local music I immediately got my copy, more specifically I added it to my playlist on spotify. Ya the EP has been out for some time but I think its now time I give my thoughts and views on the EP.

The EP contains 5 tracks and will be doing a track by track review.

1. ZinO Irema

Did a review of the track and visuals a some months back : ZinO Irema Track Review. In summary this is massive jam. The track grew on me the more I listened to it, its easy to comprehend, its relate-able, has a catchy chorus and an addictive instrumental. It also came with some good visuals.

2. Ma Obama

Did a review of this track a couple of months back : Ma Obama track review, also did a review of the visuals when they came out: Ma Obama visuals review. In summary this is a nice jam, I prefer the visuals here as compared to ZinO Irema, he was more creative, and the visuals are more entertaining. 

3. Ndaizvigona Sei?

Takura switched to a more warmer side on this jam, unlike the first two jams. The instrumental has a lot of soulful elements, the keyboard work is on point, the strings are on point and the trap bass line completes is also on point. Traps soul at its best, great work on the production. Takura borrowed from Oliver Mtukudzi's Mbabvu Yangu for the chorus and he gave it a nice twist. On this track Takura is just showing his appreciation for his other half, saying if she was not there he would not have been where he is now or be the man he is now. Lovely. The vocal performance is well done, the verses are nice and easy to follow. The hook is superb, its definitely the best part of the track. I don't know if Takura is a big fan of Usher but the track has that Usher kind of vibe, especially on some parts of the vocals. All in all its a lovely jam.

4. Negative Energy

They carried on with the trap soul vibe from Ndaizvigona Sei?. A soulful guitar work will greet you and usher you into the jam. The overall instrumental arrangement is done very well, its sounding awesome. On this jam Takura is just narrating his life story, he is working hard to make a better life for himself through this trying life we live in. Sometimes life will beat you up and you feel like giving up but your desire to create something for your family will keep pushing you on. This is a personal jam which many can relate to. Takura gave a good performance on the track. I love the verses, he was passionate, very audible, he did not rely on punchlines, the realness of the lyrics took care of that.  His style of rapping may be a tad generic but i'll forgive him on this one. The hook on the other hand is not as audible as the verses, some of the words are hard to make out, however its structured very well and is catchy. All in all this a very solid jam

5. Mungandidii?

Takura gets into an inspiring mode to end the EP. On this track he is just saying, you can not do anything to me, you can talk all you want but that will not affect me. He is just urging fellow Zimbos to keep on moving and concentrate less on detractors, he is urging them to be confident of themselves and be self motivated. Powerful. Takura gave a solid performance on this track, the verses are short and straight to the point. The hook is just fantastic, its simple but on point, you'll definitely be singing along before it the first chorus even ends. The instrumental is a bot more uptempo/hype than the previous two. 

Stream The Album: Stripped on SPOTIFY

In overall this is a superb EP. It definitely grew on me, I was quick to discard trap hip hop but I now appreciate it. The overall production is on point, Takura was solid throughout the EP. The themes are also solid, many can relate to them. Its definitely a compact offering, balanced...meaning you can safely just let the EP play from the 1st song to the last without the need to skip a certain track.  

My favourite track uhmmmmmmmmmmmm..i cannot seem to chose between Mungandidii & Negative Energy. There is no song I dislike here, with such few songs an artist will give each track enough attention unlike on a 22 track album and Takura seems to have done that here. So ya all the tracks are very good, the relatively weak one is Ma Obama.

My overall Proud Zimbo Rating: A (80%)

With such a good EP one will be left wondering if the album will be as good??.What are your thought on the EP??

Proud_Zimbo