MMT LP : ALBUM REVIEW

We waited and it came out, we whipped our $3.00 and bought the album. After having pretty much all the singles they released go on number one on one or more charts on local radio, here is what we think about their whole album The MMT-LP

1.       Wake Up!

You read the track list and you’re like...”oh,  Wake Up? ok, I know that one, then you here the unmistakeable voice of Dj Munya introducing the song, good intro guys!

“homwe dzakazvimba se face yekwa Tin Tin”,

 “Ima need a Big B&%$ ,like DJ Naida”,

Just some of the lines from the first track we heard from the group when they first hit the market. The controversial song they used to propel themselves into our lives, phones, and computers and onto radio. The same song, nothing changed and we still like it...and are still too scared to recite it public.

2.       Handei

Tatea went it alone on this one, with the rest of the team on the hook. Tatea da Mc isn’t the best rap lyricist out there but we have got to put him up there when it comes to delivery and his delivery as he tells this story of a decision to take the music industry by the horns is a good listen, charismatic and well done. We do have an issue with the mastering on this one, some parts of the song have the beat overshadowing the H town King. The beat, was shockingly really head bopping. Its that type of instrumental you want to nod your head to with half a mean mug. The poem at the beginning, Nice! The content is clear and the song we will recommend to anyone. “kwete zva Themba comes to town ne 8 gig re dzungu”

3.       Zvidhori

Erm..we know this song, you know this song; we love it you love it...what more do you want? These guys gave us a term to use on babes without being impolite. The instrumental again, another reason why YoungNash  is one of the best producers this year. The single is naughty, entertaining deserving of praise and plays. The similes and metaphors are relentlessly funny and witty, the delivery by the trio was on point and its one of those that we have witnessed rumps shaking too….alot!

4.       Slow Down Feat Anonzi Xndr

They feature the Rehab ENT boss on this song. Whenever Xndr sings,, you might either like it a lot or like it not. We had a split decision amongst the PUSH team on what we thought of the feature. The instrumental not too aggressive but enjoyable, the raps on the song were nice (as usual) MC Cut did it the most for us. “ndakushupa kunge inlaw”. But we cant forget this line “even if the coin is tails, still getting head”

5.       All the Way feat Tinashe Makura

We are not going to say anything about the subject matter! We know everyone loves this subject matter. Who doesn’t love a nice “close the door and hopes she takes it all off song” We can already see how their minds work. Tinashe Makura is obviously talented in his own right but we thought the pre-chorus after the first verse could’ve done with a little more sprucing up, but we like the rest. Another thing, now we ain’t tryna be meeting the boys from MMT while we with our girls! “I’m the CEO in my company now she wants ,me all up in her business”

6.       Ngirozi feat Tinashe Makura

Our eyebrows got raised a bit when on the tracklist we saw one artist featured twice on songs that come after each other. Then we heard the song, GOSH! There is something about the simplicity of the acoustic feel of instrumental coupled with Tinashe’s  vocals that make this one of the best Hip Hop love songs we have heard this year. It’s a nice calm song to listen to. There seemed to be a consensus here with the PUSH team though that Ngirozi is a better song than the previous one (you see why they shouldn’t have been one after another? We’re comparing now).

7.       Vanozviziva feat Marcques

“...kunge mufundisi paXimex, Havana dhiri ava”

This song was a MC Cut solo with deep voiced stable-mate award nominee,  Marcques. We are not going to lie, this song has the most different feel from most of the songs on the LP but it will definitely be a favourite for many. The partnership of these two artistes makes for a really good track, we bumping to it and we do wanna know! The beat is what many call sick and MC Cut murdered it. “she just went Zii kunge station yeku Newlands”

8.       Party Yatanga feat Darkfface

Another of the four hits that MMT released prior to the LP release.  MMT have proved to us that when its “turn up” songs, that is their area of expertise. That being said...”call it musanganoooooo, kunge party!”  Some people love criticising digital beats, its such people who would be put to shame when they’d listen to such a song.  Its not too loud, they aren’t shouting but still you cant not like it. Could be one of the best on the album

9.       Clear feat Kapital K, Alkamai, Munetsi

Its like watching, the Jamaican 100 metre relay team at the Olympics! It had been long since we heard a cypher-like line up going hard on a beat. This is what you get when you mix, a freestyle legend, a punchline expert an three of the illest rappers in Zimbabwe. No wonder why the abbreviation MMT could mean “..the Murder Murder Team..”

10.   Chakaipa feat Dhadza D

“Hatibatike, nzvee kunge ZESA/ Ane bhora ndiye anomarkwa Iniesta”

A song that transcends two genres, has one of the kings of Zim Dancehall, produced by one of the dopest  Zim Reggae producers, recently took lead on a local radio chart, was the anthem at exclusively Dancehall  get up…you want more?  A word of advice; only listen to it on a good sound system otherwise you may miss out on the little big things!

11.   Harvest (we just tryna eat) feat O-25

Mariachi features the talents of Showtime artiste O-25 to tell a story of the pain of an artiste and speaks on losing love and opportunities. Harvest sounds like a heartfelt song where he also makes reference to recent history. Saddish, full of emotion song, it takes us back to the Mariachi of “The Mariachi Code”. When that comes up, another issue is brought to light, the fact that “Mzukuru” sounds like this other American rapper who is married to Beyonce. O-25 did a good job on the song, his vocals impressive as he carried the emotion of the song. Thanks guy.

12.   FUNERAL

      This has got to be one of the realest songs done by MMT. Looks at our fears of death and what legacies we’ll leave behind. This is a song that everyone should be able to relate to.  Taken from the view of a person being at their own funeral, all the regrets, bad choices and such...nemimba dzakasiiwa naMariachi!  After all was said an done, that ending with the mamutora nhai baba..gosh!! The take on death that each MC took makes it so easy to understand. Poetry in motion. It will be a number one  for most hardcore hip hop heads.

13.   Zvidhori (remix) feat DJ Smylie, Simba-Tagz, Alvina, Stunner, Boi Mac

One thing is for sure: this is one of the best remixes of any song to ever come out of Zimbabwe! An all Star line up that only made an already hot track even hotter. Everyone on this song did well. Sadly their video for the song left a lot of people disappointed.

14.   Thank you feat Fungai Nengare

MMT closes off the LP with a message. To the haters…again. We believe that Fungai Nengare holds his own when it comes to male vocalists in Zimbabwe but we were not 100% impressed on the song. MMT on the other hand did what they do best. There is an obvious anger from two of them, it is well expressed.  You have got to appreciate the word play these boys display on the song though.  

MMT have all too often been accused of being shallow in their content; singing only about the party scene and turn up and getting drunk and girls. The album shows their other side, it is ultimately a very HIP HOP album, mostly talking to the industry and it has a handful of deep tracks that the normal person can relate to. These are the likes of Handei, Harvest, Funeral and Thank you. They even did songs for the ladies, which some may not be sure if thats their stronghold.

Album accessibility,no downloads, if you have listened to this album, then you probably bought it. So we are guessing a good number of people out of Harare might not have got it yet.  What did we not like about this album? Not too many things. We have to highlight that, on one of the songs, we think the mastering could’ve been better. The R n B artists  on some of the songs could’ve had their vocals a little more balanced. There is a lot of emphasis on the subject of them being “hated on”. They could be critiscised for dwelling a bit too  much. In their defence though, we could then say they have every reason to talk about it. Are they not the crew which has been receiving the most flack from other artists, bloggers, rival fans etc… well they are. Sometimes however, the way they reference or address the hate may be seen as picking fights by onlookers and potential fans.We don’t know how much that may make or break their careers.

The songs and themes captured on this album are entertaining, witty, not monotonous and  creative. They chose a good number of features (and good ones for that, Kapital K, Alvina, Marcques, Incredible Mu, Dadza D) thus one song will never sound like the previous one. Even though it has 14 tracks, it easy to finish in one go, how can you not when four of the songs are chart toppers. The fact they also exclusively let each MC have their own song worked in their favour.

One other thing about the trio is that, unlike most MC’s in Zimbabwe, their lyricism relates to Zimbabwe. They use punch lines, metaphors and similes all related to Zimbabwean things and common scenarios that we all can easily relate to. We are thankfull (finaly) that they have got Mariachi rapping in vernacular now and when he does, the usual comment that people have that he has a tendency of sounding like Jay Z also goes away.

The perhaps best aspect of this album is that it really it is close to home.  The songs which we hadn’t heard are heartfelt, real, emotional, poetic and who thought that the boys who we only knew for singing naughty controversial songs could pull that off? That is what Hip Hop is and that is what a Hip Hop fans want (but could be an issue for a person who is a casual listener… just saying)

All in all listening to the album you cannot help but watch the growth of three artistes as a group and as individual artistes. Cause hey...lets agree on this, they were above average individually but as a group they do prove  to be special. One producer recently called it word play, but we say it like this; vakomana veHip Hop vanodenha. Twitter recently showed that Amara brown made reference to one of the lines from Handei where Tatea mentions people who he says are riding n their father’s fame. This is what we’ve come to expect from MMT. They are the industry’s social commentators, some of their opnions are shared by a lot of people who may never have the chance to actually say it. MMT, however seem not to care about dwelling on touchy issues. They picked their role in the industry and they do it well.

What do we give it, 3.7/5