Proud Zimbo [Anhu Acho]

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 ...

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'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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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 the...

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 ,...

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 ...

Sanii is an icon when it comes to urban music in Zimbabwe. He has been in the game for long and he has been releasing hits after hit, classics after classics, tracks such as Ndefefeterwa, Hakuna Mumwe, Ndipe Rudo, Ndimbundire, Pauri Ndaperera ...etc. Despite being a amazing vocalist he is also one of the best producers in the game today. On his Birthday he released a new album and gave it for free as appreciation to his fans for sticking with him all these years. So as a fan I downloaded my copy and got to listening. After some time, Its now time I give my views and thoughts on the album. The album contains 10 tracks and will be doing a track by track review below: 1. I Surrender Sanii's lovely vocals greet you and usher you into this jam, laced with some soulful keyboard work. The overall instrumental is sounding good. This is a track one sings when they are fed up with a relationship, when one has tried everything to keep the relationship going but to no avail. Sanii i...

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 w...

Fungai Nengare is a jazz fusion, afro pop RnB artists from the capital city Harare. He has been in the music industry for some time however he is mostly in the background so many may not be familiar with the name. First heard of him on the Reverb 7 & Friends compilation album which came out a couple of years back. I don't know if he is under Showtime Records but I associate him with Reverb 7 and Showtime. So I came across this track via a Reverb 7 post/mention. Got to listen to the track and decided its worth mentioning to my fellow Zimbos. The track is on soulful tip. Its the kind of sound one will hear from Prayersoul. The instrumental is happy and bright, its well arranged. The guitar work is lovely, Fufu did a good job on the acoustic guitar. In overall its well made, clearly audible, balanced and smooth....great work on the production. From the title one will definitely know it's a love jam. Love & relationships are complicated, a single person can frust...