Zim hip-hop comes of age

11 Dec, 2016 - 00:12 0 Views
Zim hip-hop comes of age

The Sunday Mail

Andrew Moyo —
THE local hip-hop community will this Thursday converge at Club 1+1 Happy at the Long Cheng Plaza for the sixth edition of the Zim Hip-Hop Awards where artistes and other stakeholders who excelled in the genre in 2016 will be honoured.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding the awards this year with the event being mentioned on Channel O and also getting tweeted about by MTV Base. Running under the theme “Breaking New Ground”, competition is set to be fierce with the calibre of artistes who are gunning for accolades in the various categories.

Some of the top acts who are poised to strike gold include Cal Vin who has seven nominations, Junior Brown with six nominations and the new kid on the block Takura who was nominated five times.

While other editions have been marred by controversy, last year the organisers managed to put together a solid event and if they are to carry on in the same manner, this might yet be another successful offering.

For a genre that has been in the shadow of the more popular Zim dancehall, 2016 has been a good year for Zim hip-hop, which has been growing in popularity by the day.

The artistes have been displaying a certain level of maturity, producing hit songs that have done well not only on radio but also in clubs.

Last year there were few popular hit songs on rotation at any given time but this year, things changed, with more exceptional songs being produced, further boosting the influence of the hip-hop movement.

While prominent rappers have worked hard throughout the year to ascertain their dominance, new players have come on the scene fuelling the competition in an industry that is already characterised by tensions and lyrical battles.

The likes of Sharky, Takura and Tytan are among other newcomers who gave the industry a new flair, producing hit songs that have captured the attention of many music lovers.

Although Tytan was a bit unfortunate to be overshadowed by Ammara Brown on their collaborative effort “Mukoko”, the role he played in creating one of the biggest jams for 2016 cannot be ignored, no wonder why he is on the nominees list for the hip-hop awards.

Another new hip-hop act who has taken the industry by storm this year is Takura, thanks to his hit songs “Zino Irema” and “MaObama”, which have established him as one of best artistes in the genre. A single glance at the list of artistes in the running to win the best male award is enough to send shivers down any hip-hop fanatic’s spine.

Aside from the two new acts making the list, the other rappers, Ti Gonzi, Stunner, Junior Brown and Cal Vin are well known for their big egos and any outcome in this category is set to be accompanied by outcries from losing parties.

Last year some of the artistes who felt that they had been robbed for failing to win certain awards responded in various ways giving birth to numerous feuds that ensued for the greater part of this year.

Many awards ceremonies have been criticised for one thing or the other but at the end of the day these events are important as they encourage artistes to work harder.

Speaking to The Sunday Mail Leisure Zim Hip-Hop Awards event director, Talent Kaseke, said they were preparing something special for the hip-hop fraternity.

“We have a lot of surprises for our guests and artistes, especially in terms of the red carpet set up and production of the show,” said Kaseke.

He said that they had stepped up their game in terms of marketing the event as they wanted to make sure that the ceremony would be bigger and better than last year.

“We have gained recognition from regional media houses such as Mtv Base, Channel O and Trace Africa, which are the biggest urban culture channels on the continent and that alone proves organisation of our media and public relations team.

“Zim hip-hop awards are now more visible and more transparent showing the general public that the awards are fair.”

He added that the local hip-hop industry has been growing with more room for expansion to reach the levels of other continental music giants.

“Zim hip-hop is now more visible and our local artistes are now being played on global channels more than ever before.

‘‘There is more room for growth as the genre is taking baby steps towards the level of the South African and Nigerian industries.

“The attitude of the general public has also contributed to the growth of the genre and we look forward to a more hyper and exciting year in 2017.”

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