Proud Zimbo [Anhu Acho]

At the end of each month we compile a list the best 5 tracks that are released that month. February had a lot of activity from various artists as compared to January. Maybe its the love bug that pushed artists to release tracks, but regardless of the reason it as a great month for the fans. Tytan & Ammara Brown - Mukoko topped the list for January. Ten(10) tracks are in the running for the top 5 of Feb : Tehn Diamond ft Simba Tagz - Give Thanks , Jnr Brown - Tongogara , Courtney Antipas - Can You See Us , Alexio Kawara - Nehana , Hope Masike - Nduri , Dj Stavo ft Trademark & Muungu Afrika - Ngimtholile , Cal_Vin - Picture Perfect , Soul Afrika - Just Because , Brythreesixty - X's  and Jam Signal - Stuck In My Head . So lets get down to it: 5) Zim   Jam Signal - Stuck In My Head The boy band is growing in stature with ever release they make. Am a big fan of how they fuse their music...They always bring a unique flavour. Get the track at:  Zim Jam Sig...

Willom Tight dominated the early 2000's with his timeless hits  Ndinoda Wangu and Ndiri Pano (ft Mateo). After that he took a very long sabbatical break which ended in 2014 with the release of  Ndewangu featuring SA artist Speedy, the track was received well and got its fair share of airplay. It was a different Willom Tight than the one many Zimbo's  had in memory but well change is part of life, its inevitable. Since the release of Ndewangu  in 2014, Willom started promoting his upcoming album Africa Paradox which will feature various African artists like Uhuru, Salif Keita...etc. Willom is aiming at continental domination with this album as evidenced by the lineup he spent the whole 2015 teasing us with. Hopefully the Album drops this year.  M.O.N.E.Y was produced by South African celebrated house group Uhuru. One can easily hear the Uhuru trademark sound. Despite Uhuru being on the low these days the instrumental is great, and overall production is hig...

Courtney Antipas has consistency that many artists can only dream of. Last year he was releasing hit after hit, spreading the Gospel to the masses. He released his album Vigilante late last year and he was quiet for some time allowing the fans to fully enjoy the album. The sabbatical rest is now over and he is back with a new track titled Can You See Us . So how does the track fare?? Does he still have the same consistency like before?? "Unapologetically Trap" as the Courtney himself said. The beat is on a trap kind of arrangement. Its sounding full and good. Many local instrumentals we hear are good but kind of dry, this instrumental has no such problems. Am no longer a big fan of trap instrumentals but on this one I give Courtney a pass. The song is well mixed and mastered. Great work on the production Court. " ...Its Jesus who we rep, can you see us... " Can You See Us is about taking/preaching Jesus to the Masses and winning souls. The primary j...

Many have coined 2016 the Year of Zim Hip Hop. It has started well for local Hip Hop and a number of highly anticipated projects are expected to drop  this year ( Perfect Tehn , Morning Glory , Bars Of Gold , Pages of Syn , NGNGv3 ...). Local Hip Hop fans can't ask for a better project lineup. However most of the attention is given to the big artist and new upcoming artists are usually ignored, despite some of them being pretty good.  One of the goals of this blog is to give upcoming artists a platform and the required exposure. The blog cannot however guarantee success but it just avails a platform and it's up to the artists to win the people over. For this article will be focusing on two tracks by two upcoming artists: Nargee - Awesome and Nib Crouch ft Nargee - Zvondibata .  Lets gets down to it: Nargee - Awesome The instrumental borrowed heavily from Drake's Started from the Bottom, with a couple of changes here and there. Its sounding pretty good ...

Gwenyambira has finally released the visuals to the amazing  Ndinewe jam. Ndinewe was released quite a long time back and over time it slowly won its way into the hearts of many Zimbos. Personally am a big fan of the track, its beautiful, traditional, has a lovely message and Hope's voice was amazing.  Was very happy when I heard she was making the visuals for the track. To get something of the way; with Hope don't expect to see sexy skimpy dressed ladies, or anything unnecessarily flashy but expect to see art, a visual description of art. She is following in the footsteps of legends like Salif Keita, Angelique Kidjo, Oliver Mtukudzi, Chiwoniso Maraire, Ismael Lo, Youssou N'Dour...etc so you can have an idea of how the video will be like. The audio was given few improvements, it's a bit different to the one that was released more than a year ago. More drums were added and the difference is more evident towards the end of the track. Its actually sounding better...

Dobba Don has released the visuals for his smash hit and Dancehall Song of the year contender Mudendere . The song caused massive noise in the Ghettos in 2015 and is currently still one of the hottest tracks. Mudendere was not much of a crossover hit such as Winky D's Disappear or Killer T's Takumbofarawo or Itai Ndione but in dancehall circles this song is huuuuge, maybe even bigger than the crossover tunes. The track is about societal ills among the youths and drug abuse. It creatively brings to attention these issues. Its powerful and deep, Dobba Don outdid himself on this track, it will take something special for him to beat this standard. Love the second verse to bits, its iconic if you ask me: "Mumwe anoda kumuka ari Hot haadi kutambiswa nemunhu kunge Remote anoda kufloater pazvinhu fanika Boat..." The track is on the Riddim of the year contender, the 50 Caliber Riddim by the most talked and Producer of the year front runner Oskid. Everythin...

Kwekwe Hustler DJ Stavo is back with a new track, his first offering for 2016. DJ Stavo is the biggest Afro House Dj/Producer in Zimbabwe. His last track Mwedzi Muchena featured the Legendary Oliver Mtukudzi. The track was received well by the majority of Zimbos and is currently receiving a fair amount of airplay on radio. He has proved that not only can he work with the big South African artists he can also work with the local Legends. On the new track he featured two rising SA House groups; the  Shumaya  hit makers Trademark and Muungu Africa. So how does the track fare?? Stavo is improving with each track and this track is a testament to that. When it comes to afro house, Zim does not have a template or standard one can use so you will have to compare with tracks from SA. If one is not told upfront that this is DJ Stavo track they will not even think its from Zim. The instrumental is well made and is sounding pretty good. DJ Stavo really did his homework here, gre...

This Valentines we received quite a number of tracks/presents from local artists; Alexio Kawara - Nehana , Hope Masike - Nduri , Cal_Vin - Picture Perfect , Alpha Centauri - Come Back To Me just to mention a few. Soul Afrika also delivered their present  Just Because  on the celebrated day. Yesterday was buy doing Valentines stuff ( Watching the top 4 teams play against each other in the EPL ) so did not get time to write about the track. Now lets get down to it. Soul Afrika is an afro pop group and they maintained their signature vibe with this nice instrumental. Afro beat instrumentals if made well, will cause chaos on the dancefloor and this one will definitely make the ladies get down. With the influx on Afro beat tracks from all around Africa its hard to distinguish one beat from the other at times. The instrumental on this track would have fallen into that "sounds like that other song" category if it weren't for superb bass line. Am loving the bass rhythm. ...

House Music is seen as a South African genre by many Zimbos and because of that the genre doesn't get the attention that it deserves. That however has not deterred local house producers from making great music. Most of the tracks are getting airplay but only a few Zimbos know that the guys are local. Below are 4 Local house tracks you must listen to: Ulethu - Huya Produced at Showtime Records by Reverb 7, Huya is an uptempo house track, meant for the dancefloor. Reverb 7 is already proven, we know he can deliver and he did just that on this track. Ulethu laced the beat with her beautiful and powerful voice. Solid jam....hopefully we get a Zyon Black or Jason Leroux remix soon. fingers crossed. Squash  -   You Are Beautiful . This is a beautiful song, heard it on radio and for sometime I thought it was DJ Kent...that how good it sounds. Squash is getting quite a lot of airplay on radio, however many think he is South Africa. Browsing through the music on his...

The Luveve Boy is back again, with his Valentines Gift for Zimbos. Now that the beef stuff is behind us it's time for the good music to flow. This is where true Icons and Kings are seen. So as we are counting down to the Bars Of Gold LP in July, Cal_Vin has decided to drop the first single so we know what to expect from the LP. So how does the single fare ?? Cal_Vin is not only a great rapper but he is also a superb producer. For Picture Perfect he dropped all the super bass trap sounds for a chilled refreshing beat. The instrumental is sounding good, found myself bumping my head to the beat before even the first chorus dropped. The piano gave the track some soul. I like the simplicity of the instrumental and also the beat is clean. Loved the transition at the start, from the computerized intro to the main instrumental. Great work by Cal_Vin on the production. Picture Perfect talks about what happens behind the scenes in relationships. The outside people see a perfect cou...

The Mbira Queen has blessed us with a beautiful Valentines Gift with this track  Nduri . Read somewhere where she was saying she is single and that is partly because men are intimidated by her success but judging by this track she definitely knows what love feels like.  Beautiful acoustic perfomance by Hope on this track. Check it out : Let's not forget that she is representing Zim at the 2015 Kora Awards.She is nominated in the Best Traditional Artist category. We need the Award back home Zimbos so get voting that is if you haven't already, if you have voted keep on doing so, for as many times as you can. To vote follow the instructions below : Proud_Zimbo

The first track from Jnr Brown's upcoming album Morning Glory has finally dropped. Breezy and his team have worked very hard to make this track a success. The path was meticulously planned,  firstly they created a beef the reigning Hip Hop King Cal_Vin to in order to get attention back to Breezy whose star was fast falling because of his long sabbatical break. Before the Hype died down, they started promoting  Tongogara . Also to take full advantage of the increased attention on Breezy they created a Pre-Order platform to make some money from the track and beat piracy. My utmost respect goes to the PR Team for working their socks off, being innovative and creating a format and strategy that will possibly change the way music is sold in Zim.  Was not pleased with Breezy's war track We Run It  ,it appeared "wannabe" like to me so am anxious to see how Tongogara fares. So lets get down to it: The track was produced by Begotten Sun. Personally am fed up with tr...

Zim Jam Signal is a three man Boy band from the Capital. Originally started by making music which was a fusion of jazz and house but have now evolved to afro pop music with some jazz elements. Their mostly use live instruments for their music with some few computerized sounds here and there. This makes their sound more rich, full and different from many other afro pop artists. Last year they released Jikina a uptempo afro pop track ( Jikina Track Review ), it received a commendable amount of airplay and introduced them to many Zimbos. They have an album on the way and they have given us a glimpse of what we should expect with this new single Stuck In My Head . So how does the track fare?? Produced by Simba Moyo. The instrumental is well made and is sounding very good. One can distinctly hear the different instruments used in the making of the song. The marimba like sounds, the acoustic guitar and the saxophone all combine to provide a great sound. Great work on the arrangement an...

Hundreds of tracks are released on the local scene every week, ( with dancehall accounting for more than half of the total number ) but there are very few videos that get to be released. Ya I know making a music video is costly but despite that fans need them regardless.  So below are 5 tracks that will benefit more from a having a video: Winky D - Disappear   This monster tune has dominated the local party scene like nothing before this festive season. Despite it being already very very popular, a music video will catapult it to even bigger heights. Disappear may be the first local track to reach a million views on YouTube and a music video will do wonders for Winky D. Hope Masike :   Ndinewe  Many may not know this track but take a listen and witness beauty in music form. This is a brilliant track  and it testifies Hope's music prowess. She hinted on her twitter that a video may be on its way...we counting down to the release. A video will...

Alexio Kawara is one extremely talented artist. His songs always hit the right spots. His last Album Tose is still sounding fresh as if it's new, the songs are even getting better with time. Zimbabweans always talk about who will take the baton stick from Mukanya and Tuku, I believe Alexio leads that race ( no disrespect to Jah Prayzah ). Alexio's music is mature, production is always top quality, lyrics to die for and he is a great performer, can't find fault with him. Included him among the  Artists To Watch in 2016   list. He has released his first track from his upcoming album "OYI". How does the track fare?? Produced by Cornelius 3D Muponda at Harmony Studios then it was Mixed & Mastered by Keith Farquharson and Alexio himself was the Executive Producer. The instrumental arrangement is international standard, overall production is amazing. I have to say this is the best produced song among those I have listened to so far in 2016. Its gives me great p...

Valentines day is a day to shower your partner with lover and gifts...showing appreciation for their existence in your life. We know you already buy him/her presents, and shower them with love but you have to buy again on this day. Couples buy clothes, jewelry, chocolate and much more on this day abut only a few think about buying their partner an album. An album is a great investment because unlike stuff one cane wear, it can last for years and years..and also nothing is romantic like a love song. So as an arts reviewer will be sharing with you 5 local albums you can buy for your partner for Valentines. Prayersoul  -  Prayersoul This self entitled album is soulfully amazing. If you opting for an intimate indoor affair this Valentines, this is your album. Its soothing, serenading...perfect for those intimate moments. With tracks such as; Wandipengesa , Construction , Reflex, Believe ...this album is a great buy.  Buy the album :  Prayersoul iTunes  ...

I listen to many types of music, but one thing that catches my attention is when a song has souls in it.  The soul genre is nearly none existent in Zim, many do not even know we have neo soul, afro soul, artists in Zim. Artists like the brilliant Prayersoul and Bryan Kadengu are keeping the niche genre alive despite many Zimbos ignoring it. However there is a shortage of ladies in the genre. Was glad when I came across this track by Roshnee, an upcoming female artist from Harare full of soul. Did not now about her before this track and ya she is worth a listen is you love some chilled mellow vibes. As expected the instrumental is soulful, reminiscent of music by Zonke or Lira from neighboring South Africa. I believe they are some of Roshnee's inspirations. Roshnee has a lovely voice, and can't help but notice she also sounds like Zonke.  Ngizaphakama means Ndichasimuka or I will rise. Its an uplifting song in which she is saying I will rise despite how hard it ...

One of the main purpose of this blog was to find and promote those amazing local artists ( all genres included ) which the majority of Zimbos have never heard...had been slacking the past couple of months, been carried away by the allure of the big artists or popular music. Blogged about hip hop too much in the last month so was taking a sabbatical break from it, tried to help promote it but it caused too many problems for me. Anyway came across this track and, for something this good one can afford one more post, Zimbos just have to know about this jam. Did not know much about Alpha Centauri  before now....listened to this track and it just blew me away. Am a fan of mellow, chilled sounds and hearing some amazing conscious rap from a local guy is a dream come true for me. If you a fan of such music, or artists like J Cole, Joey Badass then this freestyle is for you.  Will not be doing a full on review this time, take a listen to the track and you be the reviewer this...

The local hip hop scene is dominated by a few artists who have the privileged to be played on radio. Among those few, some are really brilliant and some are friends with the radio DJ's. Now if you do not know any DJ/Presenter personally, then you gonna have to slay it to an extend that they cannot continue ignoring you!  Slizzy AJ is an upcoming rapper from Chitungwiza, working hard to make a name for himself in the hip hop scene. He released his EP titled I'm Back and let's see  how it fares?? The EP contains 3 tracks, and below is a track by track analysis: 1) Shayi Zandla Produced by Promics and Slizzy AJ. The instrumental sounds nice, the production in overall is quite standard. Slizzy AJ is saying clap hands for me, am on another level now. Its a self praise kind of track. Slizzy AJ was in charge of both the chorus and verse and he did quite well. In overall this is a nice track, my preferred one on the EP. 2) Sikhat Sam Produced by Promics and...

Tafgeezy is an afro pop/ dancehall/rapper from the City of Progress Gweru. A former Midlands State University student. He is working to make a name for himself in the local music scene. He has a couple of track to his name, but still searching for that break. On this track he featured the King of RnB Trevor Dongo and Tazoita Cash Boss Stunner. With such a star studded lineup how does the Ndaiti Uri Wangu fare?? The track was produced by T-Man at Mount Zion Music. T-Man has quite a long list of hits and this instrumental is up there with some of the best. It's Hip Hop fused with some dancehall elements, made in a fashion which is reminiscent of the Urban Grooves Movement days. What l love about this kind of Hip Hop is that it maintains the identity of Zim Music, many Zimbos relate to such instrumentals compared to those imitating American Hip Hop. It will do a whole lot of good for the whole industry if we push for our own Hip Hop sound, take for example how successful Niger...

Tehn is back with another poem form his collection. Mr Ngoda said this first quarter of 2016 he will be releasing a few selected songs from his collection of poems then the album will hopefully drop in the second quarter of the year. Ngoma Ndiyo Ndiyo, we continue our wait, but now its better because we have something to jam to whilst we wait for the Perfect Tehn. So how does the second track/poem fare?? Personally am fed up with trap hip hop beats so when l hear a hip hop track with a different instrumental I feel excited, a big smile will form on my face. I believe the beat should compliment the vocals and not lead the song except if its house music. The feel good instrumental on Give Thanks sounds great ,  its light on the ear, its bright, and invokes good memories. Love the hand drums and  keyboard work on this one. Give Thanks as the name implies is about being grateful for life whilst motivating people to keep working till they achieve their dreams. Sometimes...

Brythreesixty denounced the Christian Rapper tag end of 2016 and it raised a lot of eyebrows. The major concern being will he make it in secular hip hop. The local Hip Hop industry despite playing second fiddle to Dancehall is quite fierce, there are beefs everywhere, shade is being thrown in every direction. The hip hop throne is a fiercely contested title which Bry wants to challenge for. It will take something amazing to be considered as the King or even to be mentioned as a worthy contender. So how does Brythreesixty's X's fare??? 808 Mafia and Brythreesixty himself were behind the production of this track. The track in on a trap instrumental...well Brythreesixty is referred to as the Trap King so that's not surprising. Trap music on the other hand is all over the place, on the radio and internet, TV and sometimes one will feel like they have heard the beat before. Despite that, they did a commendable job on the instrumental. This is a track about an ex lover wh...