Category: Mhanzi
-
Syndicated Loverboy – Oliver Mtukudzi in Kwekwe
Click or not: Syndicated Loverboy – Oliver Mtukudzi in KwekweSyndicated Loverboy – Oliver Mtukudzi in Kwekwe What was the divorce album he wrote his first wife, Melody, upon settling in the City of Gold? Which hometown rockstars did he kick it off with, having arrived from Harare without a band? What about his studio correspondence with Daisy, before and after Kwekwe? Oliver Mtukudzi slept… …
-
Nas’ Ultra Black Theory
Click or not: Nas’ Ultra Black TheoryNas’ Ultra Black Theory “Ultra Black” is the most commercially successful Pan-Africanist artist’s white paper on Black power. As a hip hop capitalist, Nas is the unusual poet laureate who observes neither the saintly asceticism of Bob Marley nor the socialism of W.E.B Du Bois and George Padmore. As a lone-wolf intellectual, Nas may be… …
-
Three Silences of Winky D (Introduction)
Click or not: Three Silences of Winky D (Introduction)Winky D wants to restore Zimdancehall to its default ghetto settings. His 13th album, Eureka Eureka, challenges culture capture by self-seeking patrons and state actors. Noted for his conceptual dynamism and pro-poor devotion, Winky D has repeatedly thrown his weight against trends to influence the industry in his own direction. Will Zimdancehall respond to his… …
-
Mebo, Winky D and Karl Marx
Click or not: Mebo, Winky D and Karl MarxFew remember Karl Marx as a love poet but long before the shaggy economist was the poster-boy of regime change, he was an impassioned lyricist, smitten with the mortal madness of love like the rest of us. Despite his documented hate for capitalism, he concluded his love poems in cheesy capitals like: “LOVE IS JENNY,… …
-
Mukwasha Goes to Christmas
Click or not: Mukwasha Goes to ChristmasMukwasha (son-in-law), proverbially known as the money tree, is a Zimbabwean species known for his endless male abilities, from knifing bulls and stoning cobras to writing off budget deficits for the whole family tree. This Is Africa goes back in time to assemble the ultimate mukwasha playlist. …
-
Alick Macheso is the Last of the Last – He Could Use More Ambition
Click or not: Alick Macheso is the Last of the Last – He Could Use More AmbitionLeader of the People’s Band, Alick Macheso, is the humble hero of the workingman and the Harare scene’s most obvious father figure after the death of Oliver Mtukudzi. With more aggression than retrospection, he can take Sungura to new frontiers. …
-
The Njerama Files – Interview with Paradzai Mesi (Part 1)
Click or not: The Njerama Files – Interview with Paradzai Mesi (Part 1)Njerama Boys recorded 11 albums between 2000 and 2019. Their legacy rests on a prolific peak decade, boasting no less than five pure classics between 2002 and 2008. Onai Mushava (OM) recently rang the king of bohemians, Paradzai Mesi (PM) for his side of one of the truly complex stories of second-generation sungura. …
-
Kendrick Lamar, Black Mecca and Hip-Hop Pan-Africanism
Click or not: Kendrick Lamar, Black Mecca and Hip-Hop Pan-AfricanismKendrick Lamar recently visited Ghana, promoting his new album and reportedly shooting a documentary. State officials celebrated the visit in the context of Beyond the Return, Ghana’s tourism and repatriation campaign. As Mr. Duckworth swaps his wrecked Audi for the Accra trotro, conscious hip hop’s commitment to Pan-Africanism is deep as ever. …
-
The History of Jah Prayzah… As Told through His Best Albums
Click or not: The History of Jah Prayzah… As Told through His Best AlbumsA roaring and smoking mbira song, one for the party animals, a Nollywood pity party to confuse the crush outside your league, and a two-season coup soundtrack – Jah Prayzah created the future by commanding the past. We look back to the career-defining moments of one of Zimbabwe’s greatest artists. …
-
INTERVIEW| Musaemura Zimunya and Marshall Munhumumwe – When Blood Is Thick as Ink
Click or not: INTERVIEW| Musaemura Zimunya and Marshall Munhumumwe – When Blood Is Thick as InkA year after Munhumumwe’s “Makorokoto” won him Radio 2’s first independence-era number one song, his cousin Zimunya published “And Now the Poets Speak”, co-edited with Mudereri Kadhani, and set the tone for new Zimbabwean poetry. Few years later, he had written well enough to be considered Zimbabwe’s foremost poet. What did it mean for Zimunya… …