HIP-HOP DIVIDES HARARE.. Sungura, dancehall and even rhumba genres have at some point divided Zimbabwean music fans and promoters. Believe it or not, hip-hop, largely unpopular among the greater populace, is causing waves in Harare. On one hand you have the Few Kings, a new innovative and talented trio comprising of “men of the moment” Tehn Diamond (Tendai Nguni), Junior Brown (James Mpakula) and Take Fizzo (Tatenda Jenami). These three represent the leafy suburbs of Harare while MMT, made up of MC Cut (Kevin Sagomba), Mariachi (David Chitate) and Tate da MC (Tatenda Nziramasango), represent the ghetto. There are no slurs being thrown from either side as both crews are maintaining some clean beef that is strictly business, which makes the genre more productive. But who is on top of the Zimbabwean hip-hop game? This is the question that many hip-hop followers are asking following the growing rivalry pitting the Few Kings against MMT. Tehn Diamond and his pals are known for the song “Toita Happy” while MMT unleashed into the market the song “Zvidhori” which took the music scene by storm. According to the Zim Hip Hop Block, the division among Zimbabwean rappers started last year when Northern and Southern Samora Machel border was created in Harare. “North of Samora is basically the northern part of Harare. Largely known for affluent people while South of Samora is a middle to low-income earners’ area, which incorporates the middle and high- density areas,” stated the report. Hip-hop artistes and fans believe this geographical division is made significant because these artistes are treated differently in the industry. Anonzi Xndr, born Alexandra Mutumha, a hip-hop producer and one of the South Samora affiliates, said the beef among the rappers could be emanating from the unfair treatment among rap artistes by promoters. “Ours is not about beef but fairness. The uptown guys like Tehn Diamond and other guys from North of Samora have things handed over to them like preferential treatment at gigs, resources and stuff. “These uptown artistes are the same people who will be seen performing during most if not all hip-hop events which is unfair to the rappers from South Samora who are equally good or even better,” said Anonzi Xndr. He said such treatment amongst these artistes complicates the rating of the hip-hop artistes and also widens the division that is already there in the industry. Anonzi Xndr added: “Having this issue of unfairness, it becomes difficult for one to tell who is on top of the hip-hop game. There are a lot of artistes from South of Samora who are extremely talented, but lack resources that promoters may not identify them.” The young producer said there is a need for producers to come together and bridge the gap. However, Zimbabwe hip-hop followers on social networks are saying the division is good for the growth of the industry as it influences the production of quality music that may even compete internationally. MC Cut told The Sunday Mail Leisure that MMT is on top of the hip-hop game because their music is dominating the charts on local radio stations. “We are doing very well in the industry, way better than Few Kings and the fact that we are dominating the local charts is evident that we are on top of the game. “Our song, “Zvidhori”, became a hit song soon after it was released and it dominated the local charts. We recently released, “Party Yatanga” and again it is popular on the radio, thus it is clear that we are better than Few Kings,” said MC Cut. He said he strongly feels that MMT is handling the genre quite well despite the fact that they are not having more hip-hop gigs to perform at. Their competition has a different view to things as Junior Brown said: “I don’t think there is competition in our industry, because every hip-hop event or function I perform at, I look around for other rappers but it’s always me, Tehn (Diamond) and Stunner,” he bragged. He added: “There is a lot of work in the pipeline that will soon be released. We have not yet even reached a quarter of where we intend to be in this industry, but already we are making noise so it is quite clear who is on top.” “Event managers and promoters invite their favourite rappers whom they think are the best.” #SwissMusicEnt#
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 05:05:01 +0000
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