Proud Zimbo's Top 10 Zimbabwean Songs of 2025

Its that time of the year where many are waiting to see which track is going to be crowned the best of the year. 2025 like many years we have been blessed with a lot of beautiful and powerful music which makes the task of compiling a top 10 list a mountain of a task. 

The Zimbabwean music industry is growing in all aspects, the music and sound is becoming more diverse, artists are now willing to try something new, creativity is increasing in all forms (production, visuals, arrangements...etc) and I'm loving it. This year we have been blessed with different styles of music with varying arrangements, from Kizomba to Bira music, its been diverse. 

For this Top 10 the period under consideration is any song that was released from 1st Nov 2024 to 31st Oct 2025. The reason being most tracks released in November or December usually starts getting proper airplay the following year especially for newer upcoming or less known artists.

The major challenge when compiling such a list is fighting recency bias, a new song usually appears better even if that's not the case. Have tried to make use of different metrics for his list; online streaming figures, radio play and dominance on radio charts and social impact. Working with figures alone is flawed as we all know in this era one can buy votes or views but its harder to make people at various rural shopping centers play and dance to your music hence the reason for adding that last metric. Also some artists and genres have better online presence than others which means they will get higher views but not being necessarily better. Kujatajata was the best song 4 years ago but it was nowhere near the most streamed track that year. 

So after a lot of back and forth have managed to finally decide on ten songs which I feel were above the rest this year. Without much yapping lets get to the ten but first will share ten honorable mentions:

Ten Honorable Mentions:

Kumubhoga - Oriyano, 

Admire Kadembo - Nisha Ts, 

Huya - Sylent Nqo,

Sunday - Mugaratia, 

Zverudo Chimbomira - Simon Mutambi, 

Personal - Holy Ten & Nyasha David, 

Jah Prayzah - Mandionei, 

Siya - Winky D, 

Ta Ta Ta - Nyasha David

Haudi Kudiwa - Master H feat Anika

Top Ten:

10. Manake - Shone (ft Madedido & Nisha Ts)

9. Weru - Sekuru Gudo

8. Too Much - Nutty O

7. Marulez - Jnr Spragga

6. Ndakuda - Oriyano

5. Messiah - Minister Michael Mahendere

4. Horror - Chillmaster

3. Manhanga Matete - Paddington Chiwashira

2. Door Ratovharwa - Donator Calvins

1. Ruzhowa - Jah Prayzah & 3G Band

So ya those are the top 10 tracks of 2015, I feel these are the tracks that showcase the finest sound to come out of Zimbabwe this year. It will be known in the future as the year of Ruzhowa, the track has done the most in all social circles, its a track that managed to go beyond just views and mainstream dominance to being a prayer and sort of national anthem. Door Ratovharwa is another which is some argues must be on the top spot I wont argue much, it perfectly describes the pain caused by the current Mjolo pandemic. Choosing between the two was tough but a choice had to be made and this is what I went with. 

This year has been the year of the newcomer, 7 tracks on this top ten are from artists who were unknown 15 months ago; Chillmaster, Oriyano, Sekuru Gudo, Paddington Chiwashira, Jnr Spragga, Donator Calvins & Shone. This shows a growth in the industry, the ability for new upcoming artists to dominate is important, this ensures even the established artists remain on their toes because you do not know what is coming. Who expected Manhanga Matete, a traditional Bira song to come and take over the music scene.

Feel free to share your thoughts on the top ten, do you agree with my list?? Also share your personal top ten of 2025.

Proud_Zimbo