Josh Moscato: HUGS & KISSES

i love music for a number of reasons..it crosses boundaries..whether geographic, racial or religious and brings people together. In that spirit this week we look at a Canada based Zimbabwean born rapper who goes by the name Josh Moscato!!

This is a boy who once walked the streets of the Harare Avenues and call it his home, probably dodged the multitudes of people downtown with rest of us, went to Canada but still has Zimbabwe at heart

Josh claims he jumped into the industry after being motivated by the late Amelia David and Tatea Da MC who lived on the same block with him. and what we say to that? who could live on the same block with Amelia and Tatea and not feel like rapping??!!




He says he's been working to improve his sound which he describes as semi-rnb with a bit of rap. He also says he is currently affiliated to anthem making Zim - based producer Xndr and South Africa Youngswagga of Rehab Ent. His follow up mixtape HUGS &KISSES pt2 will have collabos from these masterminds.HUGS & KISSES  prt 2 will be released early next year. so we cant wait!!

Currently Josh is working on on an EP which he is releasing this summer (which summer Josh?? Zim or Canada summer). he says its something to look forward to as it will have features from some Toronto rappers he is affiliated with. it will have about 10 tracks, i'm sure everybody can find a favourite from 10 tracks!!

Josh Moscato is currently woking on producing beats for his music crew called Toronto's Finest Music Group (TFMG) which consists of  six artist all of which are working on their mixtapes. so we'd love to see how that works out.

so..listening to HUGS & KISSES...(a lot of people are scared of this bit..the review; i wonder why)
You and me is a track that really got to me, must have been the chorus chanting you and me tonight"and the soft grand piano playing the song out at the end. It must have been the simplicity of the beat exercising the fact that sometimes simplicity is the best complexity

i also enjoyed listening to let em know and Fresh vans mentality which both had a certain hardness about them. or maybe it as the fact that they were dominated by the raps which were delivered rather well

its an ok listen but really, we feel that Josh still has to work very hard on his tracks before he lets them out. Most of the other tracks sound like works in progress and the auto-tune on them was rather dodgy. we were rather disappointed by what we think was Josh's version of trust issues  in his song no trust no issues. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to pull of the Drake sound, his voice doesn't really do it on the singing side.
is his sound is semi-rnb..he'll have to work hard because the singing side needs work
..superwoman and take me above sounded like one song, I'm sure they are kinda related but it almost made it sound monotonous and both songs would've been better if the singing had been more polished even though the raps were good!!

irregardless..follow the link here and listen for yourself...sometimes we're hard to please...

dont forget to Push Ur Sound Hard

We came…We saw…THA H-TOWN KING

Hip hop aint dead, we saw this on Thursday night…we breathed, drank and got high on it. Just as we predicted, Tatea’s Mixtape launch was a show of pure art and mastery of microphone skills from Tatea himself and the various artists who took the stage on the night. Yes Tatea brought it….and so did the winter cold, we won’t lie…It stung hard, but Our host took the mic and heated it up from song number one slowly getting people to leave the braai stands and get closer to the MC as he performed various remixes from bangers on the REMIX KILLER and from the new mixtape, THE H-TOWN CITY SWAGGER.

We were impressed, from the lavishly dressed ladies to the humility Tatea showed to his guests by mixing and mingling with them and having snapshots taken on backdrop  (see pics).  The venue itself was lovely, with little ponds, big speakers and a bar to relieve us of our wallet weight The sound… thank goodness… on point.

Before the show started we got to mix with the crowd, from Mr Cee, the editor of Hip Hop Unleashed magazine, SimbaTagz, Ishy X and femcee Tray Young.  Co-host, Aldrian (Beefy) was doing the host thing while people got to meet Tatea and get comfy.

The show started off with Tatea doing some of his previous stuff which would have been an anti-climax if it wasn’t for the fact that he completely changed the instrumentals, which was clever, we had Boimac looking all, hazy eyed performing   F.A.N (fly a** n****r) with MC Cut who later proceeded to be joined by Mannie doing their “real music” thing, which we must say was pretty good. After the first flow of guest artists we were wowed by what must have been the spectacle of the night, the performance of H-Town featuring Crimzon-Blu who took her coat off to reveal more than just a nice voice… again.. (see pics). For this particular song people sang along with the MC which just goes to show that the Rehab ENT produced song is worthy of a city anthem. Miss Blu then got all the guys going all cringy as she then performed her own song which we think is called ‘ITS ALRIGHT’. On the show, she danced sexily with the guys in the crowd…teasingly shaking and turning, my goodness.

Also a new release, for most of us, was the inspirational song called “Dreamer” which we heard a buzz about a video about. It features Youngnash and on the night it turned out to be his alley-hoop into a different typa hip hop. Youngnash opened his set with “Growth Point Swag” where we saw Sky City born Negye joining Nash on the comical number. Youngnash passed the baton to Negye’s click, Ludicrous Rapertoire who did the “Pfeka” and a track called “Kombi” which brought a dancehall dynamic to the show.

Who will forget Uneeq and his powerful stage presence, the rapper was joined by the whole of the Rehab squad to perform what we think is a HIT… “ONE TOO MANY”.  The sound was impeccable unlike most shows we are now getting used to. Props to DJ DUDE for mixing and handling the ones and twos like the pro he is. The show was closed by a few more tracks by Tatea and lyrically colourful rapper Ishy-X.

We have to admit though, the was the obvious absence of Rehab president Xndr (who we were informed fell ill two days before the show...get well soon) and also missing was Mariachi, who we didn’t get to see. The place also took too long to get a good number and sadly we saw some people leave before the show actually started. All we can say to them is that they missed out BIG TIME..  The mixtape went on sale at the show and still is, we are still to receive information on the outlets where you can get the compilation but when we do, you will be sure to hear it from us promptly.  So congrats Tatea Da MC, we had fun. Hope you do it again…Push Ur Sound Hard

ITS ALL ABOUT THE SUNSHINE CITY SWAGGER

Tatea Da MC finally drops his second mixtape SUNSHINE CITY SWAGGER …pause for the effect…, need I say one of the most anticipated compilations after THE REMIX KILLER was released a year ago. The second mix tape comes after the successful vid for ‘H-TOWN’ which featured songstress Crimzon-Blu and became a hit on YouTube so much that national TV had to interview the light skinned rapper!

the party is to be hosted by the mc  and Aldrian BEEFY HarrisonThis mixtape has had all songs on a hush hush so we definitely want to hear what all the street talk is about. Set to fire up Mt Pleasant Sports ( Kipepeo)  this Thursday the 24^th of May starting at seven in the evening till late…hmmm.

To share the stage The H town King are some of Zim Hip Hops heavy weights, from  “grandma’s favourite”, Mariachi, MC Cut to Rehab boss Xndr we are readying for an explosive night. New tracks are to be heard rumour has it. RnB sensation Crimzon-Blu will also take the stage and Youngnash who is still on a high from releasing PARAPHANELIA will dish out some of his own material….we are waiting we shall be on that!

On the decks there is DJ dude, TK beatz, and Fingers. Sources say Ludicrous Rapertoire will take the stage too. But most importantly its, Tatea Da MC we will go watch on stage. P.U.S.H will be there to cover the whole event…..YOU SHOULD TOO.  

  

for more info check out www.facebook.com/TateNzira 

Navy seal… rapper reppin skycity!!

 the term Skycity was a term I first heard from the rapper Negy’e [phonetically nay-gee-e] and that’s what he calls Bulawayo! Skycity has kinda grown on me. It is derived from the Bulwayo’s nickname Skies

The term KINGSVILLE also refers to Bulawayo...derived from the fact that its called The City Of Kings

So we profiling a rapper out of Kingsville who goes by the name Navy seal. His name makes him sound like a hard nigger doesn’t it. Well he is! Listening to the tracks I could get off the internet, this guy could easily be out of any of the burrows with Americas hardest sounding artistes. His voice goes just as hard as his lyrics.

Naturally having gone through a coupla these it was a shock that I actually bumped into a softer song called lovebites. Officially my current Navy Seal favorite! He worked with the very talented sisiyante, Mic-a-blaze and T kreud on that track. Still bumpin to it now!! Between the crazy lyrics, Sisiyante’s voice and the beat…we were totally taken!

So we asked him about his first mixtape [cover done by J.F.K]  titled Across The Borders release on the 29^th of January this year. It was released under Banks Beats Studios and prompted by Navy Seal’s affiliation with Botswana based producer T-R-Hitz. T-R-Hitz supplied most of the beast for this mixtape and the results of this partnership were just wonderful. So the concept of two talented entertainers working to make inspiring Hip Hop despite the geographic separation brought about the name of the mixtape : BEYOND BORDERS.

We managed to find the full mixtape on reverbnation and it was a good listen, especially for people who miss hard hip hop, that will motivate you to get on your grind and work for things to move. He features a lot of people; icy (PAPERBOY), ART DEPARTMENT, JAMBO, FORBES, KAYSIE, ROBBIE, CENTRE PARTY  to name a few

Navy seal himself states that “Hip Hop is alive in Kingsville & Zimbabwe as a whole and my intention is to never let it slip”
Navy Seal along with the whole Team Navy will be in studio as of the 19^th of this month(may) working on the follow up Mixtape.. and I expect it will be another great offferingand something to look forward to!!

here's their announcement of the new upcoming mixtape...

KINGSVILLE!!!

You can find his music on the following links:

http://hotnewhiphop.com/navyseal

http://currenthiphop.com/navyseal

http://www.reverbnation.com/navyseal89

you can also follow him on twitter for updates @nseal37

or visit his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/navyseal89

campus catwalk

Put together college kids, loud music, artists, models, a stage and a camera and we will give you a couple of sanapshots of what happened. 






Rotaract UZ hosted miss UZ on Saturday[may5] and here we got to see different types of leg shape and skin colour walking around with smiles on their faces. an array of nicely and not-so-dressed females so forgive the pictures, we were kinda..well..distracted. it ws a nice place to be while the other where busy listening to weird music at HIFA! 






There were a lot of lovely performances from a lot of artistes. There was the TMG family [popular for the "your phone is ringing track] who took to the stage with Trae yung but alas...as nice as it was, it kinda seemed like an impromptu perfromance!! i wasnt too tipsy not to notice then!!

 Sanni makhalima also took to the stage with the Ayeye crew and set it on fire..they were a really nice group to watch on stage. after them we also saw King Shaddy take to the stage and the crowd went crazy...especially when he hit the crowd with "dunmore". Ba Shupi took to the stage but the performance didn't seem to get people jumping but hey..you win some you lose some.

the photos we took of the evening have been uploaded to our Flickr account and a slide show is available here on the site!


sadly we went for the music side and to get...well...erm..to have fun! so go through our flicker photostream here

Oh yah...here are some really badly shot vids from saturday...king shaddy performance!!

















so...who knows who won?? haha happy monday!!

YOUNG NASH…BRINGS YOU HIS PARAPHANELIA (with Download link)

download link : http://www.hulkshare.com/646otxucma2m

finally after such a long wait...Young Nash sets the date for the release of his mixtape as Saturday May 5 2012.

Once Rehab ENT’s youngest member, his sound is far from it now, growing from a tiny voiced emcee to  Anonzi Xndr’s beat making protégé. But its not his kicks and claps we are immediately interested about….NAAAH… its his for the past three years..we've been promised a mixtape whose name's inspiration we have been told was from ABSURD'S (the rapper who took him in) Skitsophreniamixtape.

When i heard it the first time i was like para- what?? but yeah...Paraphernalia!! he says this means tool because this mixtape is his tool to the big time, to fulfilling his dreams, to making something of himself, tool to the girls, the cash, the bright lights....paraphernalia

what is it about Young Nash?? Maybe it’s the green theme cover design by MYKOL who is also behind cover for the HTOWN mixtape or his (“he looks like he might fall of stage”..someone said) vibrant performance at the inaugural Hip hop unleashed Awards…could be that. Or… the features..the nineteen  track mixtape boasts of a varied aray of emcees and vocalists going all out to kill youngnash on his own songs (a decision we shall let y'all decide). From cocky sounding rapper MC Cut (SAME GUY WHO LACED Streets OF htwn together wth Alkamai, Mariachi and Darkface), Micha, former Ammunition (who sang surprisilngly well on the track around the world), the same group that gave you Tricycle and Spotlight songstress and rapper… to lil sways the new young rapper who is getting lots of fm airplay with his Mixtape...

there is also a good number of records where he features other artistes like Mikiale who does the hook for him in letting go; and punchliner Ishy X who features on the track satisfaction together with Absurd.

 OH YAH… he also features Ay-R and Negye (Bulawayo born rapper who opened arguably the best remix in 2012..streets of skyzcity..[remix to streets of htwn]) both from  Hip Hop RnB Ludicrous Rapertoire on a sampled Maskandi guitar number creating a song of sound that one can argue has never been heard off a Zimbabwean rapper..

Rehab Ent CEO and main producer Anonzi Xndr also features on get it on which was the first release  from the mixtape some time back. Another rapper on the mixtape is Preach…another new comer set to release a joint mixtape with Youngnash later in the year. The first song by the duo  ‘is real’ which features on the mixtape is set to have its video shot soon.on that song both artiste shows immense characters and dropped rhymes that'd make all emcees envious!! they both deliver captivating punchlines while Peach gives punchlines and metaphors fit only for an intelligent mind.

Young Nash doesn't hesitate to share his energy with the audience in this offering, and he has shown immense generosity as well; making this a 21 track offering. a wonderful line up of tracks showing his talent..this young teenager has shown his character and that he is coming to make a mark on the music industry. we look forward to hearing him on radio, and personally we think he might take Best new comer at this years Hip Hop Awards.

Young Nash also showed his producing skills by including a house - ish dance instrumental, earthertron  on the mixtape. this is no doubt a show how his talent varies and how versatile he is as an artiste and producer! its a nice chill at home tune to listen to when you don't want lyrics messing up your thought process.

what makes this mixtape awesome could also be the beautiful line up of producers on the drums and notes for the project,..SimbaTags, Mr Showtime threw two on to the compilation, while Kamikazekosh and never disappointing Tizzy had one each Paraphanelia. Surprisingly, the producers who we thought would have a lions share of the beats xndr and drizzy also had a song each on it. Impressively though, MingCow…aka  Young Nash … produced eleven of the nineteen tracks on Paraphanelia, rumour having it that he had more than 30 beats lined up for the mixtape that didn’t make the cutlist on the final offering. The tracks he produced have a lovely feel and show how much he has grown under  Anonzi Xndr  's guidance

OK honestly this mixtape is a must listen!! one would think since it has 21 tracks it will be hard to go through but we found ourselves listening to the mixtape on repeat all day. it flows nicely from one track to the next..

honestly ..good job Young Nash

our favourite tracks on the mixtape would have to be Hurting that, is real, around the world, GP swag(growth point Swag),and ...ah hell we love the whole thing...listen to it all.

DOWNLOAD THE MIXTAPE HERE!!!