MASOFA PANZE 2 : ALBUM REVIEW

This album really has to be one of if not the best Hip Hop album to come out this year. I bet you this...if you try to quote a line from Noble Stylz’s songs you end up with the whole song on your paper. Best Vernac MC? we don’t really see the challengers. This album is a lovely collection of songs, well chosen by the Artist

1.maBornFree

“tamba game inonzi Josiah, panda mubhawa tongogaraaaaaaaa”

Arguably, PushZW favourite  track off the album and it just had to be track number one; this song got us hooked on to the album, there was no way we were gonna end here. The bars from Noble just drop one after another, you enjoy the song throughout, it just flows. Trae Yung’s inclusion was no mistake, her verse (and declaration that she is Queen of Hip Hop) really got us going.

2. Nyanzvi ft BlacPerl

“hanzi nd’chabuda game, havafariri kuona Noble ane Crown/ Hanzi nd’chabuda asi handis’ kubuda seAlbum raJunior Brown”

You know, coming from maBorn Free, this was a perferct song choice. The song that features Masofa Panze Queen, BlacPerl makes for a good partnership. BlacPerl’s ability to smoothly transition between rapping and singing..this young lady is seriously talented, definitely worth keeping an eye on. We can clearly see why the social media circles have been making so much noise about this.

3. Kudakwashe

“…koshesha ruzivo kupinda mari/… tese tirivatadzi muporofita haasi Mwari”

We don’t remember hearing a word of English in this song...yes a single word! Kudakwashe was a purely vernac record. A really deep song that seems to talk about life, its difficulty and people walking together but reminding that the ultimate faith should be placed in God. There is this almost out of body experience that one is prompted to get when they hear this song. The bridge, the chorus, it was just really good. It’s like converting a well written Shona poem to a song.

4. Patinosangana feat Arnold Gara

The guy goes ultra-soft on this one, The Arnold Gara featured song is a very well documented description of long distance relationship pains and longing to be with ones lover. At first we thought it was a mourning song about a lost lover. It can be used in both situations. We would like to focus on Arnold Gara, we haven’t heard of him before but his well-balanced (vocally) chorus and verse on the song we loved a lot, we hope you like it too. We also hope to hear more from him.

5. Supa Sub ft Quonfused

“back on pole position saBev atiza Prophet Magaya”

After maBornFree and Nyanzvi this is the closest to a really free and maybe “turn up” song. Quonfused kills it on the chorus and on his verse in this song that generally says that the industry is boring now and whats neded is the Suer sub – Masofa Panze. Truthfully right no it does look like that is the case. We didn’t know what to do; dance (maclarks) or just enjoy Noble’s wordplay. The song has definite Zim Dancehall Undertones. We did the whole PUUUULOOOO thing when we got the part where Noble ran an undistrupted number of bars rhyming with one rhyme scheme JUST LISTEN TO IT

6. Dai Maiziva ft BlacPerl

We first heard this song at The Shoko Festival 2014. The song is a two pronged story about a girl (BlacPerl) who narrates the unfortunate situation involving an unplanned pregnancy, sexual abuse and prostitution. Noble carries on the song on the second and third verse with a case of an irresponsible musician and lifestyle. The song again has a chilled feel to it, a little more thought provoking like “Kudakwashe”. It was oh so emotional how the song really tackles the issues of the abuse of women in the capacity of mothers and girls at large.

7. Success

Its not the usual to hear Noble rapping over a sampled beat. The instrumental to this song is a lot different from the usual Noble Styles-Maskiri type beats. It’s pretty much about Success, the way one doesn’t understand it or comprehend it. This song is really a “I’m better than yall” clothed in a pseudo message about his inability to understand success.

8. Let me Know

One of the songs with the most different feel on the album is the let me know that features Mr Noxxa. The past couple of weeks we have heard a couple of Mr Noxxa records and concluded that this guy is just NOT LIKED ABOUT ENOUGH. “Let me know” has (we hope this will not be offensive) a feel that can be likened to a great blend between urban grooves and R &B..the blend that was the original Urban grooves sound before Russo came to town. A love song where the girl has started acting up and crossing borders of ratchetry and Noble is just asking the girl to show him love before he thinks there’s no love and moves on. Great verses from Stylz and Mr Noxxa did not slack! Great track all round.

9. “Vakafa vakazorora” featuring Meister and BlacPerl

“Meister, Masofa Panze tapinda, me and my brother in the game takuita Adam na Madinda”

“chinzwa wordplay, right, mashoko aya akutamba sele/ I run this game single handedly saSomandla Ndebele”

A very rare thing happened on the third verse, having three rappers interchanging on one verse, quite impressed. This another favourite in the PushZw team. Its probably the song with the most witty lines in the whole album LOVE IT!

10. Zim Hip Hop

“shona rapper akaita mbiri nemabig moves/ ndiwe unotanga kushedzera kuti ava urban grooves”

This song is an address to the Zim Hip hop industry that he refers to as a person that he is talking to.  A great message that doesn’t target any artist but just urges the industry to make the right decisions for growth and wants a situation of no factions. The song really asks about the elephant in the room which is, why is there such a class system, a disparity between the way rappers who spit in vernacular and those who don’t? Why people like South African Hip Hop more than the local… we could go on but, this song is one of those you have to hear for yourself.

11. Tsamba Yekupedzisira

This is a very personal song whose opening verse is a letter to his parents. It is a praise to his praise for raising him. The next verse is even more, for lack of a better word “sweeeeeeeeeet”. It’s a letter style verse addressing his daughter. The last verse is addressed to his brother, deceased as you will hear at the end of the verse. Krimz produced a really soul full sounding beat to go with the song. Another really properly done song.

Overveiw

Noble Stylez, has grown so much ever since Masofa Panze (the first one). This album is a little more relaxed compared to the first one. The mastering is better, the instrumentals are not ear disturbing, to be honest, this album is one of the best Hip Hop albums released this year if not the best. He chose the features well. We don’t quite know why BlacPerl had to be featured three times but thank goodness the young lady knows how to sing.

What we didn’t like

Well, the album artwork is not as good as his first one, COME ON NOBLE!!

4.0/5.0

The album is available on OLOVA  from googleplay or from OLOVA and from @noblestylz get a copy and hear for yourself!!

@pushzw

ITS BANGING IN THE ART DEPARTMENT

We were probably last to this song, (our apologies) but the good thing about all that is we downloaded it late night, coffee high at its peak, earphones in so we wouldn’t wake the neighbours, and we put the volume on high, (which is how you should play this song or close all windows in the vehicle that you may be in and again turn the volume up).

We profiled the ART DEPARTMENTS first song “Ride with Us” (chart topper, they aren’t messing around) which featured Alaina, the R & B artiste who probably has the best video from Zim this year. The Art Department are a rap trio from Bulawayo with members Tone Lakeside, Robbie Illsicker, and recently joined member Navy Seal. They dropped their second single from their upcoming album “While you were sleeping” called BANG which was  produced by one of Bulawayo ‘s best producers First Class.

What we like about the song is that, even after the heavy criticism of having music that doesn't have vernacular hints some people continue to make it anyway and they do it well. The Art Department is pretty good making you feel like a GEE. They are clear, the mastering is properly done, their lyrics are the New York type but they don’t make us feel like we aren’t home!

You can like their facebook page https://m.facebook.com/artdepartmentburg and also follow Navy Seal on twitter @navyseal487, or facebook.com/masimbanavyseal, or whatsapp on +263 773 930 128. Follow Robbie on twitter @RobbieIllsicker, or facebook.com/robinsonmuripa, or whatsapp on +263 778 367 242. Follow Tone Lakeside on twitter @tonelakeside, or facebook.com/edwinmakuyana, or whatsapp on +263 773 205 445.

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@PUSHZW

MARIA MARIA!! JUNIOR BROWNS MARIA

The year 2014 has been characteristic of a lot of things which includes the silence of Junior Brown. The last bit of that statement changed with a tweet. This weekend after the songs debut on a local station, the MaDrinks rapper announced that anyone who wanted his newest release “Maria” would have to add “atenno” on his Whatsapp list and request to get the song. We did as the rapper ordered and in a jiff, we were added in a group, had the song shared to us and pressed play!

Utterly scary, pure mastery and very Hip Hop.

We really want to go into the deciphering of the lyrics, about how, the almost 7 minute song which has skit before and during, a feature from Gze and adlibs by who we think is Babashupi is a mix of the relationship between the artist and money (Maria), the Maria being the pseudo scary voice in the beginning (who is male and reminds us of listening to DMX’s trilogy Damien when he had a conversation with the mystical character) who seems to be the overbearing influence over the rappers life and how it all makes sense that money would make put you in a position where hood-rats would want your attention… WE COULD GO ON AND ON ALL DAY!

One can’t ignore the could be blasphemous undertone in the last verse, (see why we think it’s scary!), one cant ignore the truth in the message in the song, one cant ignore Gze’s verse which we loved still.

We will not be the ones to kill the sharing by placing a link or anything, get on twitter and get the song from atenno! Till then, we shall be singing the below

“Maria Maria Mariaaaaa, Honayi zvandakuitwa ne Mari iya”

@pushzw

CANDY MAINE SHOOTS BACK AT XNDR: NDOKUGWEJUNURA DISS SONG

The Hip hop circles have been really weird lately, beefing Twarring, all types of stuff happening. Shuwa Econet yakatiparira nefree twitter. 

So some time recently, a screenshot started doing the rounds on social media. It started when controversial hit making producer Anonzi Xndr posted a screenshot of a conversation he had with then (and still ) virtually unknown rapper Candy Maine. In the chat Candy asks Xndr to hook him up with a Zim Hip hop award and that he was going to pay for it (a bribe pretty much).

The screenshot was posted on Facebook and in a short period of time the post had generated lots of comments. When the screenshot made its way to Twitter it blew up in many unrelated circles simultaneously, started screaming and ranting while we looked on. After the newspaper article where Xndr said he helped Candy Maine get famous we had one question for Xndr. So we hit him up and asked him,

"Was the release of the screenshot planned as a publicity stunt to introduce us to Candy Maine?"

His answer was that it wasn't.  Word for word what Xndr said was, "I did it to clarify that I'm not a director anymore. And also that the Zim Hip Hop Awards organisers work hard and people discredit them because of people like Candy Maine who think the system may be bribed."

That having been said he also admitted to the opportunity that the whole thing gave to Candy to take advantage. We followed his actions after the screenshot and he has made no attempts whatsoever to convert this into a publicity stunt and a chance to shove music down our throats. Let's face it, most of us went out there trying to find out if his music was worth the award even WITH the bribe. 

Then we got a song this morning with lines 

"..Mr Nice Bhachi. bhachi remubhero, you took your screen shot and post to the people, I will show you kuti ndiri weHip Hop..." 

This just changes things for him, because the last time, his Moment of fame was shorter than a first round, lets see what he does on the second one!

Oh well, fame isn't for us all. Remember, learn from Candy Maine and no matter the publicity, 

Push Ur SoundHard (P.U.S.H)