The Sunday Mail
IT’S about to get interesting on the local hip-hop scene.
Two upper echelon artistes in the form of Takura and ExQ will be dropping their albums next weekend in Harare.
Takura will drop his debut album “Someone Had to Do It (SHTDI)” on April 13 at Club 1+1, and ExQ releases “Tseu Tseu” at Rylance Resort in Borrowdale the following day.
Takura and ExQ have been dishing out hit singles that have cemented their credentials as Zimbabwe’s most influential hip-hop stars.
The two collaborated a while back on a striking jam titled “Kiloz”, which features Roki.
ExQ needs no introduction, having been in the game for close to two decades starting from the time he released the controversial hit song “Musalala” at the turn of the millennium, to trending hits like “Nhema”.
While many of the musicians who were with him at the dawn of the urban grooves phenomenon have fallen by the wayside, ExQ remains on top of his game.
His name features on most major gigs held in the country including Davido’s 30 Billion Concert, which will be held on April 21.
The Davido gig will come a week after the release of “Tseu Tseu”, and provides an opportunity to make or break the album.
DJ Tamuka produced the 15-track album, which ExQ is keeping under wraps until release, save for the video for “Tsvigiri”, which came out a week ago.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail Society, ExQ said: “The album is inspired by Zimbabwean culture and the hunger that my fans have for a rebranded ExQ. My fans were also hungry for a new album since the last one came three years ago. We have only been doing singles.
“We were experimenting with new sounds so that we are able to come up with something refreshing for listeners.”
ExQ has roped in the services of Unplugged organisers for the launch.
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Takura’s album is also something to look forward to.
After parting ways with Soul Africa in 2016, he re-engineered his craft and took the hip-hop route, a move that would see him shoot to stardom after the release of bangers like “Zino Irema”, “MaObama” and “Mungandidii”.
2016 was a good year for Takura, with South Africa’s Hip-Hop Magazine naming him in their Top 10 African rappers alongside heavyweights Kwesta, Nasty C, Emtee, Phyno, AKA and Casper Nyovest.
He has been nominated for multiple awards, bagging several of them along the way.
While he has not been able to put together an album, he has been releasing explosive singles and EPs which have kept him relevant in the game.
Some of his popular jams include “Kamu Shekero Kacho”, “Kutaura Newe”, “Mari Hairambwe”, “Negative Energy”, “Mhofu” and “Mai Mwana”.
“This album is called ‘Someone Had To Do It’ because it speaks about my life as someone who is always taking up many responsibilities. You know there are many things that will not get done if you are not the one putting up the effort and one way or the other you will have to put in the work otherwise nothing will materialise, thus the title of the album,” said Takura.
“I remember doing the first song on December 30 and six days later I had completed six tracks. We put a lot of hard work into this project so as to make sure everything was up to scratch.”
Takura worked with producers Kiva Q Kill, COG Beatz and Santulus on the 18-track album which features IARE, Chichi and Junior Brown.
