THE PROMISED REVIEW : ZIM HIP HOP AWARDS

Awards are supposed to exist to make industries better, to recognise the hard workers for the year and push others to work hard so as to get their acknowledgement...to assist everyone in bench-marking. Each and every year for four years now, ZHHA does the opposite. I would like to blame them for the 6 month industry silence that we had this year! Who wanted to work when the only overall industry recognition was biased?

ZHHA 2014, just when we thought that ZHHA had given us progress, Beefy and his team showed why they are the best at what they do. Heck, they've been doing it for FOUR years...that's experience!!

ZHHA 2014 looked promising, having had not too many complaints on the nominees’ side (lack of complaints could have been our “they should just do whatever, not like they ever listen to us anyway..) This year they really tried in that department. Of course there’s always one or two, but the generality of it was that they did well with the nominees. Their job was of course made easy by the lack of really ground breaking, relevant Hip Hop for most of the year.

The fans and the artists didn't disappoint, everybody dressed up for the night. Everyone was looking beautiful as they always do...the rain tried to ruin the mood but hey, it wasn't going to spoil our awards night..That's Beefy's job.

First awards of the night were well deserved awards, McPotar (who had by far the most consistent blog in 2014), Sindiso Dube, Mark Vusani, DNA...these were all very deserving award winners. The problems came with the awards everyone came to see.

Unlike last year where we had a publicized panel (though they dropped out at the 11th hour) we kinda knew who was responsible for the decisions, this year we certainly didn’t know. We must've missed the memo. Noise broke out in the last quarter of the awards, artists and fans alike chanted "BullSh*t! BullSh*t!" and we can't blame them.

PUSHzw would like to take this moment to thank HAKEEM for doing what no one else who went on stage would do. Saying what most people felt was the truth. Who needs Kanye?? However, to say that Tehn Diamond deserved what Peekay isn’t exactly something we would stand to agree with, Ma One Vs Simudza Gumbo? (bearing in mind that its awards for 2014)

These are the categories where we think the noise erupted from, and where we think Beefy and his awards did his thing:

BEST DIASPORA: Rhyme Assassin. Sarai muchiita Digest that.

BEST ALBUM: It went to Blood Money Jacob - POY. Look, it was a good album, good, content wise but also an album people didn’t hear. How much of it was played on Radio? (which we believe is part of the criteria for nomination) How much of it did people hear? The Category had Albums like Masofa Panze 2 and the Many Moods of Trae Yung all with better airplay and content that was just as good. Our winner of the night though should've been THE MMT LP. That album was so good most of the music of the night was from it! How else could you get people bumping if you didn’t play the MMT LP? It had great songs that went viral a good quality product. You would think that after the great introduction Stunner gave the award, ZHHA would have respected people enough to give it to the rightful winner.

BEST NEWCOMER: PEE KAY. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this one because we don’t know what criteria they use for Newcomer. We remember very clearly a song with PeeKay in it more than four years ago, when he was still skinny, Ill Ceey was still secular...and Ill Ceey was still Ill Ceey. PeeKay with Illceey on Blue Jeans is from when we were in high school, and now it’s been a year since we graduated from Varsity and they give him BEST NEWCOMER. Utter F$#ckery! This award had fresh blood more deserving of a chance to be recognised and they gave it to the guy who is probably a lotta rappers' role model. Young Bulawayo rapper Cal_Vin was killing it, Nash Da King, had a good song this this year, Masofa Panze 2 artist Noble Stylz was on fire...and the awards panel killed all hopes for new acts. Who knows next year, they might put Xndr, Junior Brown or BETTER, the Major Playaz!!

BEST FEMALE: BLACKBIRD. What?? I mean “what?” Put your hands in the air if you heard more BlackBird than Trae Yung this year or any BlackBird actually, No takers? We thought so. Hanzi nhingi akapihwa award ranhingi.. #NDIKOKO. Plus, Blackbird is very Loud pa mic...barely survived with our ear drums. But she did tell us that she is the only rapper on Channel O from Zim… ah well!

PEOPLES CHOICE: Tricky J, The boy had a really good song, and if numbers don’t lie, the he won because more people voted for him than your artiste of choice, If you want your expression felt on this one, GET MORE PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR YOUR ARTISTES!

What still pisses us off about ZHHA

1.      TIME, Gosh, if you say you shall start at 1900 then start at 1900, at least at 1930, not TWO hours late, AGAIN!

2.      VIP, nominees, free for all…we will only be serious about it… for the first hour of the awards

3.      SOUND..SOUND…SOUND..

4.      If they don’t treat these awards with the importance that is due, neither will we!

5.      Can you switch off the lights,… switch off the lights!! This should be all cleared at rehearsals folks.

6.      Control your people, the audience becomes rowdy, irritable and plane simple out of control. This happened last year too

The Good bits

1.      Turn out, maybe the smaller venue gave it a better effect but it’s cool to know we have fans

2.      The visual aid for the and nominee list call out was a little more organised this year

3.      Back drop, smile and take a picture, don’t we all just love feeling cool!

4.      The drama moment had a slightly lighter side to it, though it was really disappointing, it did make for a somewhat, moment of entertainment

5.      Free Style battle, short, precise and we all liked the winner. Together with performances from Calvin, High Definition, Amard, they did put in great work. Team Bho always with something surprising on stage. It’s all hip hop.

h

@pushzw

KNOW YOUR NOMINEES #1 : LADIES FIRST MK47

If you are true to your Zim Hip Hop, then you must have heard her at some point, especially if you remember ProjectFam, the sibling duo from Mutare. MK47 is the female half of the crew and trust us, not too many Hip Hop artistes can hold a candle to her when she starts spitting. Unfortunately, she, like most Hip Hop artistes of her era went on a hiatus but when she came back she was still spitting fire, with her deep Shona, tsumo and dimikira and a whole lot else we had to look through our old Shona notebooks to understand type rap. Its impressive, confident and there is a video and link to prove our word. Here is her come back song “Ndadzoka”  with Mr Noxxa and MC Flexxo, Check out the video to the song here.

MK47 is nominated for this years Zim Hip Hop Awards to be held on the 17th this month.

@pushzw

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.

follow us on twitter on 

@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)

R & B aint Dead : Mik's Listen EP

Mikiale, thats the name he went by when we first met him, its been a few years since then and now he is better known simply as Mik. Like many other artists, we have watched him grow...from the time he had us singing along, "i'm on my nooos"

We were lucky enough to get our hands on his new EP, "Listen" and well...we had a listen. According to Mik, this one is going out for free...and he has even plan to do a mini tour. All this comes as a prelude to his next problem which may just be one to really look out for.

A representative for his generation's R&B, Mik's following is sure to grow over the years as a settles even more into his style.  This EP is a lovely collection to use to judge him by. Just five tracks but you get to see what he is about.

Love in Harare ft. Joker da vinci and Marcques.

Recorded on a mellow beat, here, Mik gave an uncomplicated hook, "i'm from the city that don't sleep, haurare...all night with me", lyrically flirting with the girl. And yeah Joker da Vinci and Marcques come and lace it...the slow beats Marcques flourishes on and we're sure a subject he likes.

Like ooh ft Mile.

On this Anonzi Xndr and Absurd produced record the two young singers show us that there isn't a thing to worry about in as far as Zim R&B goes...the future isn't bleak. Two complementing voices, the very talented feature ensures that you enjoy the song so much you don't see it end, or maybe its just us.

Roller Coaster ft Maniac Beazy.

One thing about Mik that we saw on the Listen EP is that he isn't afraid to experiment and recreate his ideas in his music. We found ourselves liking the chorus...another song for the ladies...don't worry its clean. Then while you ease into it he gets into the climaxing bridge that jumps straight into Maniac Beazy's well delivered verse.

Easier.

This was our second favorite track on the EP. It was mellow and (though we don't have all the composition details) this would be the song with the most lyrical depth from Mik. Tugs at the hearts of those more inclined to 90's type R&B. "I'm tryna make it easier, why am I the only one who still believes in us." The song describes a situation most of us have been in when it comes to love, when it all becomes hard. Caught some hints of emotion in this one.

This love.

Produced and written by the godfather of Urban Grooves, Delani Makhalima. How do we know this? Delani reminds us a lot...like a lot lot...every other shift. STILL...its our favourite track on the Listen EP; well written, well produced, and definitely well performed. Good work Mik!

Overall. Mik is a good singer he knows what he wants us to hear. We don’t think he is afraid to sing about deep love in one song and sex in the other, which is good. However, we think that there are more than too many songs where its either a case of misplaced autotune, or a shaky delivery. He has a strong voice and it seems like he is restricted from fully “singing” except well in the case of “This Love” where he holds notes a little more fully and a little more completely. Not that we want to be music fundis or anything but we feel like because  he is singing and not rapping, a more articulate attention to mastering is necessary if Mik’s music is going to stand toe to toe with his competition locally. 

When people hear a ballad, they want to be captured by the emotion of it all, which Mik is good at but they also don’t want to feel uncomfortable when certain words are not audible or bouncy. This didn't stop us from loving the EP, in fact, we are sure you will love it too. Mostly because he sounds like R & B from this century. The sound is one we can relate to, its not too old school, retro or just bang bang clang!  We are sure you will love it.

So yeah, grab a copy...or you might randomly get one free. And for those of you on the Abuse-work-internet grind...follow the link below

www.soundcloud.com/mik-manjengwa