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!!
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