Category: Zimbabwe
-
Nadia Nakai- “40 Bars”ft. Emtee, DJ Capital
Brains and Talent! Unlike Waka Flocka and a list of other artists who have been given an honorary doctorate degree in philanthropy and humanitarianism, this beauty attended Monash University, Johannesburg where she got her bachelor’s degree in marketing, communication, and media studies. Yes, introducing to some and presenting to others South African-Zimbabwean rapper, songwriter, and
-
A Symbol of Queer Peace in Zimbabwe
The song Peace by Zimbabwean artist Hanna critiques the repetitive lack of originality that is current mainstream hip-hop. The second verse of her song raps that she doesn’t “play games,” “play dumb,” “fake rap,” or “fake cum.” Considering the fact that Hanna is a lesbian artist, I took this as a slight towards straight women
-
Tashamiswa: An Epitome of Braggadocio on the Zimbabwean Hip Hop Scene
Tashamiswa is a female rapper born and raised in Zimbabwe. She is known for her honest and egotistical lyrics. Tashamiswa is known as a breath of fresh air on the Zimbabwean hip hop scene being that she is a female rapper who doesn’t necessarily use her body as empowerment, but her lyrics. The music video
-
A1 Zim Rapper Noble Stylz
The artist Noble Stylz is a Zimbabwean Hip Hop artist originally (and very proudly) from Masvingo. As an artist, he uses his voice, passion, and profound knowledge to speak on local social injustices as well as opposition to the modern treatment of music artists and others who share similarities. As an outsider of the Hip
-
“Whose Land?” A Narrative by Zimbabwean Artist, Rapper, and Poet Meduulla on the Injust Land Reform Program Taking Land Away From Black Farmers
To begin, Meduulla is a Zimbabwean rapper, poet and artist. Notable songs by Meduulla include “Mish Muulla,” “Levelled up,” and “Aphrodite.” Being that Meduulla is a poet, she is well known for the poetry in her music, often covering the injustices she has had to deal with during her life. In her song, “Whose Land?”
-
Dumi Right
Today’s blog will feature the Zimbabwean rap artist Dumi Right. Dumi Right also known as Dumisani Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean performing artist, MC, writer, and organizer. He’s originally from Harare, Zimbabwe then moved to America to further pursue his career. He was in the rap group, Zimbabwe Legit, which was the first African group to
-
Asaph, a voice for youth in Bulawayo
Asaph was born Tafadzwa Tarukwana on January 11th, 1992 in Bulawayo Zimbabwe. Asaph has grown to become an internationally recognized Hip Hop artist most famous for his music that aims to speak for his community from an insider’s perspective. Asaph dedicates his work to the youth of Zimbabwe and hopes for them to “be inspired,
-
Maskiri: A Spectacle of Controversy and Vulnerability on the Zimbabwean Hip Hop Scene
Maskiri is a well-known Zimbabwean Hip Hop artist and spectacle of controversy and vulnerability. Maskiri was born in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe under the name Alishias Musimbe on April 6, 1980. As a young child, Maskiri was expelled from school because of interdisciplinary behavior such as bullying other kids and skipping classes. This expulsion is what led
-
HHAP Ep 70: Xidus Pain on the UK rap scene and being a hip hop educator
Xidus Pain is a Zimbabwean artist who grew up in the UK. He’s based in London MC who has been involved and influenced by the UK hip hop scene since he was a young kid. He currently works in schools, universities, communities centers, and prisons as a hip-hop educator. He’s been doing this for over ten years. As an artist, he has worked with musicians from around the world from members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to Rap Legend Special Ed.
Xidus Pain is also a Director at Beat This, a community-based organization that works with young people in London, and a manager with Generation HipHop UK, a global empowerment and development program. He connected with The Hip Hop Africa via Hip Hop Loves, a hip-hop NGO that works with hip-hop artists and activists globally.
In this episode, we have a great conversation with Xidus Pain about the history and growth of hip hop in England. He talks about the development of the various hip hop elements in the UK, as well as the drill and grime music scene. Grime is a genre created by Black artists in England that comes out of UK hip hop culture.
Xidus Pain also talks about the influence of religion on his music and his decision to not use profanity in his lyrics, his lyric writing process, and what influences him. He also talks about the impact of Brexit on the hip hop scene in the UK.
Xidus Pain is on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xidus_pain/ and Twitter: https://twitter.com/xiduspain
This episode is part of the special series that we did in partnership with Words Beats & Life. The series was recorded and live-streamed with students in the Hip Hop in Africa class at Howard University and George Washington University.
-
celebrate the female braggadocio
From the outsider’s gaze, hip hop is at times seen as monolithic and is trivialized by the outsider’s perspective – labelled as materialistic, unnecessary, and narcissistic. In their pursuit to underplay the complexity and nuance of the genre, as well as their convenient omission of the dedicated Eminem playlist in their music library, these strangers