The AHHB Podcast Featuring Kweiks, Kagwe Mungai & Takura
by Phil Chard
AHHB Podcast V 2
We might be slightly delayed but the African Hip Hop Blog podcast is back with another incredible episode. I can assure you that we are getting pretty damn good at the podcasting thing. This week Phil shares interviews our #FeatureFridays winner Kweiks, who shares details of his career and how he overcome a life threatening accident to pursue his musical dream. He then crosses over to Kenya to hear about the type of music made by Kagwe Mungai and why his mother is happy that he chose to pursue music and finally we hear from Zimbabwe’s Takura who just dropped his 5 track EP Stripped.
We play Riky Tyler’s new remix for Swerve featuring Tshego and Doto from Kweiks as well a brief discussion onto the serious accusations made by Julius Malema against South Africa’s Mabala Noise label. Enjoy !
Takura – MaObama
by Phil Chard
It's Peak times for Zimbabwean rappers right now. In the space of two months a pop act has invaded the Hip Hop scene and is doing a pretty damn good job at this rappity rap thing.
On his second rap single as a solo artist Takura hops on a C.O.G. Beatz trap instrumental to wax motivational about his hunt for MaObama (colloquial slang for US Dollars). Takura keeps his delivery pretty simplistic yet effective. I'll be very interested to see the trap sound that Takura and fellow Zim trappers are pushing shift the direction of Zim Hip Hop to something more commercially appealing with the masses.
Takura – Zino Irema (Official Video)
by Phil Chard
Soul Afrika is a Pop group that first broke onto the Zimbabwean music scene two years ago under the ABBRA Tribe umbrella. When I interviewed Tytan around that time he had been working closely with the group in a managerial capacity.
Since releasing their debut effort Ndimi Derudo the duo of Takura and Tatenda Mathe seem to have moved on to form a close relationship with Kenako Music. Now it seems the group are also trying their hand as solo acts
In his new single Takura experiments with a different sound to what his fans may be accustomed with. The track Zino Irema is surprisingly very Hip Hop and features Takura on a trap beat blending rap verses and sung choruses as he sings about fake friends and a woman who doesn’t have any genuine interest in him outside of the superficial .
The video was directed by Zimbabwe’s premier director Andy Cutta and is a highly impressive offering that integrates studio and outdoor shots featuring Takura and his cohorts dabbing enthusiastically as they recite the sombre lyrics.