The Sunday Mail
Dennis Chimanzi
AWARD winning rapper, Tinashe Gonzara, popularly known as Ti Gonzi, has labelled the recently held Zimbabwe hip-hop awards a “sham”.
Ti Gonzi, who was the 2020 Nama Outstanding Male Artiste, did not get a single nomination in this year’s edition of the hip-hop awards.
Holy Ten scooped the Best Male Hip-Hop Artiste of the Year award.
The failure by Ti Gonzi to get the recognition that he thought he deserved left him fuming.
“Honestly, we cannot speak about Zim hip-hop without mentioning my name. I was deliberately left out. My name should have been on the list of the country’s 10 best hip-hop performers,” a seemingly livid Ti Gonzi said.
In May this year Ti Gonzi dropped the album “Sendiri Two” which carried such songs as “Homwe yangu’’ and “Kudhara”.
The album did not, however, perform as well as his previous effort, “Hipu Hopu Yeku Ghetto.”
One of the pioneers of local hip-hop, Alishias “Maskiri” Musimbe, sided with Ti Gonzi and questioned the selection criteria.
The nominee list was dominated by such emerging hip-hop artistes as Voltz JT and Holy Ten.
Writing on his Facebook page, Maskiri said Ti Gonzi deserved to be a winner.
“This year Ti Gonzi did very well with his album ‘Sendiri Two’. I was shocked when his name was not among the top 10 best performers. I am now questioning the selection criteria which was used by the organisers of the awards,” Maskiri said.
Zim hip-hop founder Adrian “Beefy’’ Harrison said the winners were voted for by fans.
“Our hands were tied. Ti Gonzi is without doubt a hip –hop sensation. However, the fans had the final say and they made their decisions,” Harrison said.
The organisers of the awards were also criticised for not honouring Donald “Dodger” Marindire, the late hip-hop blogger who died early this year.
