WHAT WAS HOT AND WHAT WAS NOT SO FAR THIS YEAR 2014

GZE: Zvakabhadara

This song!! When we first heard the ex Trinity rapper on a jam with Junior Brown “Vroom vroom Wayiziva” our eyebrows were raised as he did slick job at murdering the instrumental made by award winning  producer  Take Fizzo. When this song “Zvakabhadara” was released, all we could say was that, if there was a way to describe modern day hustler/ gangster music in Zimbabwe, this song would be the definition of just that. The beat is not loud, made by Mixmasters producers J Drizzy (former Rehab if we aren’t mistaken) and Shayzar. The two are good at what they do. The way GZE delivers is undeniably perfect. His chilled demeanour how he doesn’t seem  to struggle with words and how so relaxed and laid back he is could just make this song the best this year, thus far. The feel of the song makes you understand what’s going on in the head  the young Harare hustler, implementation of plans (no matter what) and the pay off. Whats funny though is that there is another dope jam from Mixmasters also called Zvakabhadara by Karma. Kinda makes us want to compare and contrast. Get what is probably the best hip hop song this year hereà http://www.reverbnation.com/c./poni/234983792

The AHHB & Rymez feat Jnr Brown: Phill Chiyangwa

“Pachinodonha ma blogger anoita over excited” Cant say that’s a lie. The African Hip Hop Blog in collaboration with producer Rymez and Jnr Brown gave us the first song off the Pungwe Sessions Vol .1. The song with the name of one of Zimbabwe’s  affluent Bussiness men  as a title, hit radio and like always, the all too familiar section of twitter was on and on about it. The song, is HEAVEY. Its what you would expect from Jnr Brown. He is unforgiving on the punchlines and metaphors. He nails his delivery with such impeccable finesse. We cant not say that the song slightly disappointed us somehow. It feels like listening to HWMiT (Hardest Working man in town) all over again. Could it be the similarity in content, somehow, the beat or the rhyme scheme, well, if you collect music like we do, check out track number 10 on Dutch Presents “Live Love Dance” and see what we mean.  Dope track though. The beat is simple and bumpy. Its that song that gives you the version of Jnr Brown from the hustling era. Eye brow raising lines which some make take as shots fired but what more interesting is what happened at the song release party at a local club, we aint goin to say much but "don’t ever sound like Jnr Brown, otherwise…" (moving along). Rymez did a good job on it. We are excited to find out what else is on Pungwe Sessions Vol. 1. Junior Brown akapenga…and haazi makuhwa, Get the song on à   http://www.africanhhb.com/2014/01/ahhb-rymez-feat-jnr-brown-phill-chiyangwa.html

MMT: KooVhaz

So we have another “lets get happy and drink till we are broke” song. The trio did another song for the weekend, another one we expect revellers to like… yaaaaawn, whats new right? sigh. Those were our initial thoughts until we listened to the jam again and again and again. This song isn’t a Turn Up song, more like, driving to a braai song. We realised that songs beat wasn’t made by Rehab Entertainment. After our research, the killer of a beat (you better listen to that beat, trust us we say) was made by DJ Lil and Cal 1 who are a German duo under Boomslang Entertainment. The song features Tinashe Makura. We realised that the initial public’s reaction was, was that the song was well, okay. Not a banger, but okay. Other critics said that the songs flaw was that they went too hard on it. The punchlines and wordplay from these guys never ceasing to amaze us. Though it might not be as WOW as Zvidhori. Party Yatanga or Chakaipa, there is this head nod one gets from the beat, it’s the type of song that you would expect Tyga to do a verse on. We must say, that there's a feel to this song that noone has been able to bring out in vernacular lines. This laid back, sorta nice to bump in a car while having a conversation with the fellas in where next to go. A must get, you should download it on à http://t.co/kqih4wvAmZ

Navy Seal: Elevated

Navy Seal is by far one of the sickest MC’s in Zimbabwe that is no doubt. Unfortunately, we can never deny that radio plays more Harare music than anything else (word to Noble Stylez who aptly brought that out). The song, “Elevated”, is one of the best we have heard from the Bulawayo rapper. His ability to do his own choruses and totally, effortlessly kill any song that he is on is impressive. We wont lie, if he got more airplay, you are likely to change what your playlist looks like. The song “elevated” was done on a Jae Mac Beat. It is another inspirational song that explains what it is like to be pushing hard in this really hard to break into music industry. The song exudes Bulawayo street knowledge and anyone in Kingsville would be proud of this one. The song, nicely mastered and he doesn’t fight with the beat, he goes on it and makes a song that is worth playing. This song was released mid 2013, the reason why we are putting it on this list is that is compartes with and is better than a whole lot of songs released this year . Visit Navy Seals New blogsite à http://navyelevated.blogspot.com/

TehnDiamond featuring Dadza D: Simudza Gumbo

So classically, like we all know the self proclaimed King of the North Operates, a lot of buzz about the song pre-release and on the day it was released. The song is pretty hard to get because you have to do oh so much on the internet  to get it. The first release off his debut album, TehnDiamond tells us to “Simudza Gumbo” (raise your leg/march/dance). Its not a dance song. It’s a very complicated song. Why? The title and the content do not add up at all unless you dig deeper. The song is very lyrical, deep and thought provoking. The wordplay is almost poetic. The beat was alright, and the execution of it still top notch. Tehn gave us good verses. However, nomatter how much radio plays it, its not as appealing as some of the stuff he has done in the past. Its almost a case of right flow, wrong beat. We (who also are zim dancehall lovers don’t hear the Dadza D’ness of Dadza D). It may be because of the precedence they set last year as Few Kings that made us expect something else as a first single but Simudza Gumbo wasn’t it. Its nice jam, we love the lyrics, the mastering but that’s all. Hear it onà https://soundcloud.com/tehndiamond/simudza-gumbo

 The AHHB & Rymez featuring FTR & AbNorm : Live it Up

Yes, they released two songs from the compilation this month. That’s the second song we heard from The AHHB Pungwe Sessions Vol. 1. AbNorm and dope beat maker FTR went on this one. What made this song stand out is that unlike most of the songs that have become characteristic of BANGERS in Zim Hip Hop, this particular song isn’t aggressive on the listener. It is really calm, the beat is deep, with a subtle bass and kicks that were properly plotted and not all over the place. This just shows the mastery of Rymez as a producer. Of all the releases from this year, it will be the one that we think will remain on playlists after everyone is tired of the heavy weight releases. The song itself, is self explanatory, “live it up” , typical, do what you gotta do and reward yourself. However, its another supposedly party jam. Don’t get us wrong, not a “turn up” but a “drinking” song. (Zim rappers love drinking evidently). FTR shows us that not only is he a good producer but he is a lyricist in his own right. The vocals are clear and AbNorm does his bit which was equally as entertaining. It is a favourite in the PUSH team and we hope to hear more from these guys. Get “Live it Up” right hereà http://www.africanhhb.com/2014/01/ahhb-rymez-featuring-f-t-r-abnorm-live-good.html

@pushzw

Zim R & B takes to Music to Find Missing Brother : Full Story

“Hello Zimbabwe, My name is Chyllur, I am an R n B vocalist  and I have just ,launched the campaign, called the ‘FIND TERRENCE CAMPAIGN’  in search of my brother who has been missing in South Africa for some time now. To join and support the campaign, you can buy a copy of my album entitled “ Far from Over”. To place an order and to find out more, call or Whatsapp 0778 006 088 thank you”

Chyllur

Earlier yesterday, we received news that one of Zimbabwe’s talented  R n B artists Chyllur (Who some may know but others have no clue as to who he is) launched an online campaign to search for his brother. Having only received sketchy information we made it our goal (as it always is) to dig out the information ourselves as a “missing persons” situation is something to be taken seriously.

We received the initial snippet of the song “As I Rise” which had the message that started this post. So after we also reached out to the artist, here is what we found out. Chyllur's missing brothers name is Terrence Chihava he is twenty eight years old. He was last seen in Cape Town  in August 2013. All efforts to  find him have been availed to nought so far. To make the situation worse and Terrence harder to find, he is apparently mentally ill (Terrence). The cover art to the song show the most recent picture of Chyllur’s brother.

The song that he has released to kick off his campaign has been seen by some bloggers as marketing gimmick or a way to buy sympathy from the general public. We think the song is heartfelt and the show of good workmanship vocally. Chyllur chose the right song to kick off his campaign as the message behind the song dwells behind real success not meaning much unless the people closest to you are “all good”

You can listen and download “As I Rise” by Chyllur on https://soundcloud.com/chyllur

Our plight as PUSH  is that you p may push the message to anyone that cares to listen to you especially those with people they know in Cape Town the last place Terrence was seen. For more you can also contact Chyllur @Chyllur on twitter and Benson Chihava on Facebook

@pushzw 

Zim Hip Hop Awards Undressed Part 2: The winners, losers and Actual event

So yesterday we gave you the part one of our review of the awards, mostly our concerns before the show and what we feared. None the less, because we love the genre so much and will never give up on it, come awards night, we were clad in our nice rig and off we went to 7 Arts for Hip Hop’s premiere event of the year.

If you were following the live tweets form our handle @PUSHzw, you will notice we didn’t arrive exactly at 19:30 when the gates opened.  We were holding our hearts in our mouths at the fear of the $15 cover charge and the fact that some people made what looked like a deliberate move to get people away from the awards and celebrate Hip Hop across the road, BUT, we did it again. The people stayed true, once we saw, the sexy dresses, done up weaves, suits and ties, really packed parking lot, we knew, ooooh we knew it. The Zim Hip Hop Awards, was “where da party at”

Even from outside, you could tell that it wasn’t just another show, because yes, beautiful people, your heavy weights with their plus ones having snap shots taken on the backdrop and all around. One of the most impressive things was the fact that, there was no disorder in as far as getting in was involved, no crowd squashing or unpleasantly menacing security. One of the not so impressive things was the starting two hours late, again. We heard one rapper say, “how can it have started, Stunner, who is supposed to perform first, only just arrived”. Ah well, that’s one for whoever manages the performing artists for next year.

The performances

Yes, if you didn’t get to see them, well, we saw a whole of tablets held up to record it all. ( you probably know someone who knows someone who did ). We loved Rhythm Family who showed a lot of skill, beat-boxing jams from the National Anthem to “Party Yatanga”. The crowd loved them too. The host of the evening Munya Chodzonga,  who still showed up and MC’d the whole event even though his co-host didn’t come. He held his own and  should also be given a pat on the back,. Alvina, came up on stage with Ishy X and his partner Foster, as they performed “Gogogoi” which had a good number of people in the crowd standing and dancing to. Then came, Kuti Pwee, which surprised us because, it was a whole new version, with Alvina singing on the chorus and a BIG SURPRISE PERFOMANCE verse from femcee Blackbird.

Yes, Sinbad from K-Town also performed, with his spunky hot looking trio of ladies. Two who looked oh so active, dancing in sync and even if the sound let him down a bit. We liked how he did his performance. The freestyle battle, was, well… It had its moments; we didn’t get to see Noble Stylez. Alka Nemo won it but we have to commend the tall rapper from Mutare who we think did us proud. Ice Rockspin, showed up on stage, ten seconds after his song started playing (cringe). Breeze, was one of the memorable performers his song “ Manyepo”. It a  was good performance, he took to the stage alone and killed it.

The group K.L.A.P obviously put a lot of thought into their performance, they were the only ones who had props, coz when the lights went on, we saw a gangsters all seated playing cards, two sexy ladies,.too dope. Mudiwa also perfomed, he had dancers on stage who brought it and nailed it. He was clearly lip syncing and we still don’t know what he was throwing at people.  Marcques was the last one to perform. Got in with his love jam “Break your Heart” then of course got the ladies shaking it with “Zunguza”. He also had two dancers on stage shaking it. We still don’t known if it was part of the get up but Schingy got on stage with his partner and placed an old school radio right in front of Marcques then popped a bottle of Champagne, froth going all over the place. It all made up a good performance though.

The winners…and the losers

Did the back up judges do a good job? We have put the full list of winners at the bottom but some of the highlights include, the best dance crew, which were the Hood Crankers, the best promoter being Magamba (same guys who give you the Shoko festival). It seemed that it was only obvious that Kapital K would be the recipient for Best Diaspora as well as Marcques as the best newcomer. Few Kings as a crew and as individuals took most of the”talked about” awards, going home with the best group and best album. Their producer Take Fizzo took the best producer, Tehn Diamond grabbing the best male, Junior Brown scooping the MVP and Song of the year. The best female hip hop artist was won by Trae Yung with St Ignatius Chishawasha’s Overdose Boys taking the best High School act.  Another tightly contested category was the best collaboration which MMT took home and Best Radio DJ going to Davies Mugadza. Individually, Mudiwa took the most home, grabbing three awards, best gospel, best video and the people’s choice award.

The Biggest Looser?

Well, by now its obvious, anyone who lost hope, who pulled back, who did not positively criticise the awards. Anyone who thought that the awards wouldn’t go on without them, was the biggest loser! The awards were graced by The Deputy Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Supa Mandiwanzira and the Chairperson of the Miss Zimbabwe Trust Mary Mubaiwa Chiwenga. Some of the notables such as MC Cut and Junior Brown, Noble Stylez and Trae Yung weren’t at the awards but we were happy to see the legendary Mau Mau, Comrade Fatso, Out Spoken, Lochnation, Stephanie K, Tatea Da MC all at the awards.

Lots still has to be done, but with small victories we know that the brand will grow even bigger and better. There are some small things which we feel that at this point, the Zim Hip Hop Awards Team really disappointed us on, such as start time, we eventually left pretty much at mid night, some how, they should get things started earlier, whether people want to mix and mingle outside or not. By now, it’s inexcusable to have names spelt wrong, FUEL KINGS, NO WEEDS?  It was also disheartening to see that some of the stage performances weren’t as smooth; we really didn’t like the idea of seeing people walking across the stage mid presentation or performance, even if they were behind the DJ’s. Not so sure about having or not having a podium, or actually familiarising the presenters with what they are supposed to be doing when they get on stage. Some just talked for too long, others forgot to say the nominees, and in some cases there seemed to be a lack of communication between the sound guys, DJ’s and presenters. We feel like it doesn’t take money (which most people want to use as an excuse for underperforming) but just plain old organisation, effective stage management and rehearsal to fix these things.

To close off, we really have to thank Adrian Harris and his team. It’s been three years, running, certain programmes such as F.A.C.E.Z show how much Hip Hop can be an instrument for good in the society. We as bloggers often sound harsh and unforgiving and sometimes against such initiatives but PUSH applauds the Zim Hip Hop Awards. Where else would we see Zi-FM stereo and StarFM dj’s shaking it in short white numbers but besides the awards? Where else will you see the H town King in an white tux but besides the Zim Hip Hop Awards. Where else is Zim Hip Hop most celebrated each year but besides the Zim Hip Hop Awards.

The list of Winners

Best Positive Social Contribution – Jibilika                                                                                       Best Solo Dancer – Adrian Zinasi                                                                                                       Best Cooperate Supporter Supporting Hip Hop – Arizona Spur                                                       Best Album Art- Road to Fame (Crooger, design by Mykol Riley)                                                      Best High School Act - Overdose Boys                                                                                                    Best Dance Crew – Hood Crankers                                                                                                   Best Promoter – Magamba Network                                                                          BestOnlineMedia- African Hip Hop Blog                                                                                          Best Diaspora Act – Kapital K                                                                                                         Best Radio DJ – Davies Mugadza                                                                                                      Best Producer – Take Fizzo                                                                                                                Best club DJ - P-Styles                                                                                                                      Best Collaboration - Zvidhori Remix : MMT featuring Stunner, Alvina, Boi Mac, SimbaTagz and DJ Smylie                                                                                                                                                  Best album – The Feeling Aint Fair : Few Kings                                                                                  Best Video - 10/10 : Mudiwa                                                                                                              Best Newcomer- Marcques                                                                                                          Lifetime Achievement Award – Chiwoniso Maraire                                                                          Best Group -  Few Kings                                                                                                                   Best Female - Trae Yung                                                                                                                  Best Male - Tehn Diamond                                                                                                                Best Gospel Act – Mudiwa                                                                                                                        Best FreeStyle – Alka Nemo                                                                                                            MVP – Junior Brown                                                                                                                    People’s Choice Award – Mudiwa                                                                                                                                          Song of the Year – Madrinks : Junior Brown

@PUSHzw

ZIM HIP HOP AWARDS UNDRESSED PART 1: ORGANISATION AND PRE-EVENT

The hip hop community are at times a little too hard on the Zim Hip Hop Awards organisers. It is a young event, still growing and the organisers seem to have a lot to learn. It is not all their fault, they organise an event with little corporate support despite its great marketing and revenue making potential.

The awards are a symbol. People may run them down all they want but we all know that as long as you are an artist, no matter what you say about them, you WANT TO BE A PART OF THEM. Everyone wants acknowledgement and that’s the exact opportunity that the awards offer. Very few hip hop artists have had the great pleasure of a ZIMA or NAMA nomination, ZHHA is a platform for all the hip hop artists in the country (and we have lots of them). It’s a goal for artists, the measuring stick of their success.

We know it’s a young event and the organisers do not have much experience so why do we blame them so much. The ZIMAs/NAMAs are always just as bad if not worse. Squabbles about nominations, winners, timekeeping, and the overall event itself. They obviously need time so that they can learn the ropes on how to hold these awards in a manner as close to perfect as possible. They need to be given this time. By us.

At the same time, the organisers need to understand one thing. Just because the awards are in December, it doesn’t mean work has to start in October. It can start as early as March; they need to have a proper set up that allows for the recording of information during the year. Artists should not have to send in their work for nominee consideration!! The ZHHA organisers should be on top of their game, they should have records on notable and other moves made in the industry during the course of THEIR WORKING YEAR. If they 

consider work up until 25^th of October, they should already (yes right now) be looking at the music that has come out since then. At the end of the day that is where the nominees for the ZHHA 2014 are going to come from.

A question for people in the industry: Have the Awards been getting better since their inception in 2011 (the great Blackbird beef year)? Have the organisers gained even the tiniest shred of credibility since then? We certainly do not think so. (Oh, was that two questions? Hahaha and another one right there)

At one end the noise begins with the nominees. We should (and I’m sure they) know that there will always be noise when it comes to nominees. We all have artists that we feel should’ve made the cut but didn’t. It happens. Deal with it! As awards organisers, if they give us a set of nominees, no matter the complaints or the noise that fans/artists/critics/haters make, the organisers should stand by their decision. The ZHHA organisers did the opposite. A lot of us thought Schingy deserved a BEST NEWCOMER and maybe BEST VIDEO nomination. People made noise about it on Facebook, on Twitter, in kombis , in studios, on blogs, at home to people who didn’t care! Point is, people made noise. The biggest problem was that the ZHHA organisers gave in to the noise, thereby in our view, diminishing their credibility in as far as the other nominees. Everyone now wondered what it took to get yourself on the nominee list, the noise of your fans? Although if you look at it, it kind of makes sense! If your fans make noise and they put you on the programme maybe your fans will come to the event, meaning revenue for them. They aren’t total idiots. But they lost credibility to us.

Look we got past all that. It happens. Normal nominee banter, happens everywhere right? Let’s move on and have the awards. That’s what we thought right. Then a whole bunch of artists started denouncing the awards. The likes of POY, saying he would not perform for free. We thought that was kind of harsh of him, but hey, a man has his principles and his is that there’s “Nothing for Mahala!”.  A whole bunch of other artists and producers seemed to go on a rant about the whole thing, making it extremely hard for the organisers. How can we host these properly without your support?

And theeeeeeeeeen we had pricing drama! Ooh what drama it turned out to be! First announcements pegged tickets at $15 until 1 December when they would go up, and then obviously cost more at the door; but that’s not how it turned out. When we think of it my eyes get teary! We bought tickets for $15 and then these past two days tickets have been going for $10, with mention of people getting a perfume in the mix. Why? Why did that happen? Were ticket sales that low? Was it looking that bleak for the ZHHA organisers!

The biggest bombshell the Morning of the awards! The panel of judges, in a press release through 3 Men on a Boat, announced that they were removing themselves from the awards citing that material had not been provided for them to do their jobs up until today and the time period no longer aloud for proper winners to be announced. I’m sorry... WHAT?!!? THE JUDGES PANNEL TOLD US THIS MORNING THAT THEY HAD DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN AS FAR AS WINNER CONSIDERATION UP UNTIL THAT DAY!

At the same time this last minute declaration by the judges’ panel really put the organisers in a tight spot. Yes they didn’t give your material, but did you have to pull out on the morning of the awards? And worse of, by making a public spectacle of it they made it harder for the organisers to salvage credibility.

That was some heavy news to take in!! Really heavy!! But it didn’t prepare us for the response from the ZHHA organisers that the show would go on! The show will go on??!! But how?? Your judges’ panel just told us that they did not have the information to decide on winners and henceforth retired! The ZHHA then told us that another panel had been put in place to deliberate the winners.

It seemed to be raining bad news for the awards folk when later in the ay other players in the hip hop industry decided to hold an event, same time with the awards, across the road from the awards! Twitter became abuzz with retweets and mentions, people obviously trying to pool the awards crowd. We think that was unfair! It is non progressive, unethical and a sign that the biggest enemies of Hip Hop are within not without, Yes these awards organisers are messed up, they haven’t managed to correct any of their fault since they started but this would be sabotaging the industry we are trying to build. Well, we’re just glad they ended up coming to the awards.

The ZHHA organisers wanted us to listen to results coming from a backup panel created today about who should take the awards? And the judges had one day to deliberate? Fortunately, there were not too many complaints about award winners, despite the perceived reduced credibility of the judging process. I have to commend the award organisers or the judges’ panel. This is not to say that there is any artist undeserving of their award, but they managed to give awards to all the people capable of making the most noise afterwards. We say this especially given the judges panel fiasco that had happened earlier. Like a pacifier to a baby. We won’t be hearing much from them for a while! It was a sound business decision.

We had tickets. We went. We saw all the pretty faces and that is why you have to wait for the part two coming out tomorrow morning, when we look at the winners, loosers and moments to remember at the event.

PUSH

@PUSHzw|#KNY2013| #ZIMHIPHOPAWARDS

KNOW YOUR NOMINEES #7 Dizzy Don HE WHO CARVED THE MAP OF AFRICA

With one award already in hand, and two nominations this year, we just couldn’t ignore the rapper who first got us Baba Shupi, who was the best promoter of hip hop a year back, who has featured with some of the best artists in Zimbabwe from MC Chita to Mariachi. Dizzy Don stands as one of those Zim Artists who will dare to do the seemingly impossible to get the job done, even if it means travelling halfway across the SADC region to make an album, which is exactly what he did with the album of the year nomination “The Maps”. The front cover of the album has caricature image of the rapper himself standing right on top of the map of Africa, microphone in hand with the cable stretching from Cape to Cairo in the proverbial Cecil John Rhodes kind of way. (History Students will understand the significance). Fresh from the release of his new vid “How to spend a milli” featuring Msheznana from Bulawayo (watch it), we caught up with Dizzy Don (DD) and had a one on one.

PUSH: “The Maps”, How did it come to being?

DD: I view myself as a fan of music more than I am a musician in my own right. So you find that with this album, I attempted to get into studio with musicians that I considered great, thus the extensive collaboration list. After realising how far out these peeps were spread not only in musical style but geographically (Zim, Bots, SA, Malawi), I realised that I’d have to travel across the “MAP” to do it. Also, my real name is Donald Maphosa and one of my nick names being Maps, it just went down well as an album title.

PUSH: How many countries did you have to go to go through to get it done and which artists from these countries did you work with?

DD: Including  Zimbabwe, for Botswana, Liefy Jones, for South Africa, Numi and Wiely Jeans ( SoS are a South African Group but I recorded with them when they were up here for the Africa Hip Hop Caravan). I also worked with Dan Lu from Malawi

PUSH: You are not new to award to award nomination. You actually have won before. What do you think stands out so much about your album that makes it deserve to be one of the nominations for album of the year this year?

DD: I will not say it deserves to win because that will be a comparative statement versus everybody in the same category as me. What I feel it does deserves is to be listened to coz hapana bhama rakaita sairo. Hip Hop is self-expression and to compare my expression of self to someone else’s expression of self isn’t fair. But I do still cross fingers that I win only coz I could do with the increased reach that comes with the publicity associated with winners.

PUSH: Awesome, as for ‘Wapamthima’, Talk us through the shooting process and how that happened

DD: My biggest strength in life is my ability to network and knowing that I cannot do anything alone. Once I set my sights on doing music outside Zimbabwe, I consulted one man who is best at it, Elton Bryce. I simply asked him to deliver the best Malawian singer that I could work with.  He made the link and he found me Dan Lu. We talked and planned over the phone basically planning the move and the concepts in the separate countries. Demos were made and by the time Bryce and I left the country for Blantyre, I knew I was going to record. So over the next 5 days we recorded and put in our finishing touches, got joined by the video maker Chipiliro Konje, drove down to lake Malawi performed the song on Dan Lu’s slot at the Sun Lake Festival sharing the stage with Malawi’s Lucious Banda and SA’s Proffessor. We then shot the next day, Beautiful place, beautiful people, I learnt a lot and made valuable connections. I think the song/video speaks for itself in terms of quality.

PUSH: So going on to next year, whats going on for Dizzy Don?

DD: Ok, I have many a plan. There is a project coming soon probably before February called “The Experiment”, It’s my interpretation of alternative Hip Hop and all I can promise is its going to be crazy! I also have begun diversifying my business so expect some releases from my Man Made Music Label from other artists. I also will put in a lot of work in bringing unknown talent to the fore front as I have always done.

PUSH: Just to wrap up, where can people get your music, vids and projects?

DD: Google play, ITunes, Tavoom, to name a few online stores that carry my material. Physically come through to Rhymez I Wrote shop at 70 Selous, Harare where I sell my music together with other peoples music. My website will have links to all this plus my free mixtape material DizzyDon.co.zw.  ( the site will be online next week, its currently being revamped) Follow me on twitter @Dizzyzw and on Facebook, Dizzy Don Maphosa

PUSH: Thanks Dizzy and good luck at the awards.

PUSH.

Know Your nominees # 6: Schingy

When the categories for the Hip Hop awards were released, there were a lot of mixed feelings regarding some of the nominations and the categories themselves. One aspect that stood out was the reaction from Schingy’s fans who made so much noise that some critics have suggested that a category was made just for this young man (but this is just speculation). Meet Schingy.

PUSH: Finish this sentence, Schingy is

SCHINGY: Is also known as MWR or TRF, is a  Zim Hip Hop 2013 nominee signed under Team Rehab. He is a rapper, lyricist as well as a fashion designer . He is 20 years old and was born in Chitungwiza. He is doing a Business Management Degree by Midlands State University. MWR started music at the tender age of 5 but professionally has had to wait till 2011 where he co-founded Hot Boys 5 Star Rec with fellow partners and recorded his first EP entitled TAKAJAMUKA which made headlines on the internet and social media and also recognition from college students who liked the track. Currently he has released two videos and three singles from the forth coming Murimi WeRap album to be released in his birthday on the 06/06/2014 .These include his hit song Hustle On featuring Christhood which topped gospel charts and also received international airplay on online radio stations in America.  Its video was a major success to his career as it received air play on Channel O for almost 2 weeks and is currently being played on Nigerian Satellite Stations like Fresh Wave more than 8 times a day. The other song is Ndakuudza featuring Snurbei which received quite a good platform locally and regionally. The third song is Murimi WeRap featuring Team Rehab which is currently doing well in SOHH and in the streets.

PUSH: You have been nominated for MVP this year along side a couple of really talented artists, what were your thoughts when you saw the late announcement?

SCHINGY: It was a surprise to me after what had happened earlier but lately I feel honoured. It meant a lot to me especially that people really appreciated all the efforts I had put into my work.

PUSH: You have accumulated a really large following on social media, How did that happen?

SCHINGY:  I think to a certain extent, the air play I got from FreshWave  and  Channel O helped in building the fan base for me. Also some media appearance that I have done throughout the year, I can tell you, I have been in the press 52 times in less than 12 months. But to a greater extent, my followers are from MSU (fellow students) judging from the 13000 students who enrol there.

PUSH: They must love you. You arguably have had one of the nicest videos to come from Hip Hop this year and must have good management team. Who are these guys who work with you?

SCHINGY: My mangers are Tafadzwa Zimoyo, who is my personal manager, Liberty Dandire who does all the IT and stuff with Vanessa Chiyangwa helping in sponsoring and funding of projects.

PUSH: Second Last question before we let you go, if you were on the awards judges’ panel, why would they make you the MVP this year?

SCHINGY:  Hahaha okay, I’ve done better than all of them on the international scene. I have two international videos, this year, that’s more than my fellow nominees. I have more than one joint on chart shows at the same damn time, that’s more than my fellow nominees. I’ve been changing circles of Hip Hop from not being a Hararian, but being an artist whose music is sung in the outskirts unlike most of the other artists. I have done more shows than most of them, considering that I am on my own unlike some of the other artists who are a part of a clique. The achievements they have done are part of synergies not their own. If they are going to judge according to media and fans reach like they said on the day they created the category, then it’s obvious, I’ve been all over the media. I have many fans from the streets to the social sites that are behind me, some real niggas who are ready to die for their realest nigga.

PUSH: Interesting, Last question, what’s the future for Schingy? Can we expect anything for 2014? And where can fans get your music

SCHINGY: 2014, I am dropping my 1^st LP and prepare for a milestone in Hip Hop # DVD for my 7 top class videos to come out. I am also working on my short film project to come out next year. My music can be checked on my website although right now its currently under reconstruction www.schingy.com. Or the www.reverbnation.com/Schingy. Just Google Schingy they will definitely give you different links coz my name search now can lead to 9 pages with contents linking only to Schingy chete!

PUSH: Thanks a lot Schingy, good luck in the Hip Hop awards

PUSH

Know your Nominees #5 : Kasi Lunatics

Hailing from the City of Kings, this squad has been making noise this past year and last year. They have found their way onto charts, onto concerts, the press and now they have a nomination in ZHHA 2013. We caught up with them online; meet Kasi Lunatics (KL)

PUSH: First of all congrats on the nomination, So, some people don’t know Kasi Lunatics, In one sentence, Kasi Lunatics is?

KL:The best rap crew in Zimbabwe

PUSH: hahaha, when was it formed, how did it get together and what are the names of the members of the super click?

KL: The group was formed 3 rappers from Mzilikazi Suburbs, R.A.Peezy, B-Miles and Krusty “Freshman Fresh” Initially the group was called M.Z.E.T’s finest but later changed to Kasi Lunatics. Rappers, Subzero and Thieyz joined a year later.

PUSH: The Hip Hop awards, recognise moves made by artists throughout the year, what would you say you have done this year that makes you worthy of the nomination?

KL: Kasi Lunatics is a very perculiar group, Our music is very different from the “ordinary Hip Hop”. We fuse kasi-lingo, slang, culture so that people from Bulawayo can relate with our music. In Kasi – rap, In Zimbabwe, we lead. Besides our music, we have managed to perform with Proffessor (SA), endorsed by Coca- Cola during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair and we have been invited to Urban Music Festival in Harare. We also managed to release our debut album “Life on Mars” which was produced by Di Face and First Class who are the best producers in Bulawayo. We are the only Hip Hop group who have ever been approved to launch their album at Horizon Restaurant and Club, so eish, so I think some of these things set us aside to be one of the best groups in Bulawayo and Zimbabwe.

PUSH: This year, the nomination for best group has K.L.A.P, MMT, Few Kings and Monkey Nutz, what were your thoughts when you saw the fellow contenders?

KL: These guys have worked hard and yo man, we are honoured to be nominated in the same category, we were actually shocked coz these guys are at the top of their game.

PUSH:  So going into the future, what can we expect from Kasi Lunatics? Anything for 2014?

KL: We are releasing a DVD for all our music for all our music from the time we started to early 2014. We are doing collaborations with well-known South African Rappers, we will not mention names but surely, Zimbabweans will be shocked and will really be proud of Zim Hip Hop. We are also doing Solo projects.

PUSH: Yep Yep, So where can fans get your music and your projects?

KL: https://soundcloud.com/kasi-lunatics10/kasi-lunatics-we-dont-waste-pr

www.reverbnation.com/kasilunatics

we also have a fan page “Life on Mars” and “Kasi Lunatics”

PUSH: Thanks a lot Kasi Lunatics and good luck at the awards.

PUSH