Winky D - PaBho EP Review
There are certain things one cannot escape as social media user in Zimbabwe such as a Winky D live performance and new release. The Gaffa has a cult following online, there are many who voluntarily do Public Relations for him, many who will fight on his behalf. In social media circles Winky D is sacred.
As the hype for his Mbare show was slowing down Winky and team decided to release this new project; Pabho, and it was also his Birthday. Good strategy from the team. Now as the Pabho hype begins level out the main question that now remains is how good is this new project??!! His last project was the Love Quartet EP, released last year in May and it performed decently, prior to that he had released the Eureka Eureka album which I did a review of, check my previous posts. These previous two projects are not among his best, yes they came with massive hype (as always) on release but all have failed the longevity test, can that change with this new project???
Lets dive deep into the project and find out:
Patonaz (Intro):
The Bigman went deep on this song, highlighting the many social ills that we are now witnessing day in and day out from the many hopeless youths. He is urging the youth to be patient, disciplined in life and to continuously fight off peer pressure, there will be light at the end. Most are losing their morals and identity all in the name of keeping up with trends and appear successful. Winky delivered some solid wordplay on this freestyle, probably the best on the whole project. The production is done well, had this gotten a fire chorus it would have been the best track on the project.
Kudhakwa:
Winky is saying the best way many use to handle the daily stress that Zimbabwe dishes out is getting drunk and forgetting your worries for a moment. Currently because of many hardships the amount of Zimbos who are taking alcohol on a regular basis has greatly increased, even those taking hard drugs have greatly increased. This track is like an echo of the many who are failing to see a way out and have to resort to alcohol when things get too much.
Zvatanga:
This is the track many were waiting for after watching Winky's performance in Mbare. On this track Winky is basically responding to all those who are going against him, those who want to buy his loyalty and those who want to take his brand down. He is retracing back to his yesteryear Mafirakureva moniker, going against those who are pulling down and oppressing him and the youths. Winky showcased his superb wordplay on this song, dropping solid bars on both the verses on this track.
Pabho (featuring Bling 4):
On this track the Gaffa teams up with the talented Bling 4 where they saying are we have had enough of this life, things need to change, everyone deserves a better life and not just a few. This is aimed at all those youths who feel pressed down, who are failing to see a way to progress. The track is urging them to take action and go for their dreams. The collaboration between the two worked well, their styles blended well together. The production is also well done. I see this one setting the tone and standard for Hip Hop the year.
Fake Love:
The AI generated video for this track has got people talking. Winky has never fully invested in visuals so such an experiment is a welcomed move. As you watch the Samson and Delilah themed video you can pick that the animated feel of AI but its a commendable effort. On the track Winky is adding his voice to the Mjolo pandemic that has taken over, the massive betrayals that is happening in many relationships nowadays. The production of the track makes use of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car progression, I hope all the copyright issues have been cleared.
Siya:
Winky on this track is saying to his mind and heart that you should not desire what is not yours, you deserve only that which I have worked for. He is urging for self control and discipline, for in desiring free things or being in sync with trends will lead you to many problems. On the track he takes time to throw shade at Seh Calaz and those various mbingaz who have tried to buy him gifts and/or those who have not included him in their gifting spree (you can look at it either way).
Conclusion:
As you listen to this project you feel this is Winky getting things off his chest. He is human after all!!!. Many of his fans prided Winky for not engaging in beefs (well, since he rose to the top he has been avoiding them, but in his first ten years he was going against anyone who had a stake to the throne). On this album he has went after Seh Calaz on two tracks; Zvatanga & Siya. He has done so in an indirect way but its clear where his words are aiming at. On the same tracks he also went for the Mbingaz, Wicknell and Passion Java to be specific; Wicknell has sort of "excluded" him from his car gifting spree, then Java is said to be behind the cancelation of Winky's HICC (Jabhuna) new years eve show. So you can see Winky had some stuff to say. Winky dressed his jabs well in the middle of tracks about the struggles the young and unprivileged face.
Production wise the album is okay, Pabho the title track for me has been the outstanding one among all the tracks.
Winky is now sort of entering that privileged (and also infuriating) stage which all top artists who have been blessed with longevity in the industry have reached, where you are now past your hitmaking prime and whatever you release will never surpass what you have already done. Fortunately your fans will still love you as they have already accepted that you will not reach your peak levels again and will continue supporting you mostly for nostalgic reasons. Alick Macheso has been in that phase for about 10 years now, Tuku was in that phase the last 15 years of his career, Mukanya has been in that phase for over 20 years prior to his retirement from music last year. Its the cycle of life as an artist, good thing is that the generation Winky has grown up with and impacted will support him for many years to come. This may sound as I am being too harsh but time will tell if he can surpass, the domination Gafa Life Kickstep or Igofigo had (mind you was before these Winky social media fanatics who force you to side with them even existed).
So my overall rating for this project is 6/10
I know many of you have managed to listen to Pabho EP, kindly share your thoughts and ratings down below.
Proud_Zimbo
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