Resilience Chekera is undoubtedly one of Zimbabwe’s longest-running and most respected lyricists. Going by his more popular moniker - GZE his career has spanned 2 decades that have seen him win multiple awards and rise to the top as both a solo and group artist. His deep raspy voice and impressive penchant for using Zimbabwean street language and marrying it with complex metaphors have earned him a dedicated cult following amongst a wide swathe of Hip Hop fans.
His career began in the early 2000s as part of the Urban Grooves trio aptly titled 3rinity (Trinity). The group comprised of GZE, Vito and Andrew Msonzah. Melding Hip Hop with a number of genres such as R&B, Rock and the burgeoning Urban Grooves sound, they quickly captured the attention of culture. This culminated in the group’s song Jesa being featured on the cult classic Chamhembe Plus compilation album. This song was also part of their critically acclaimed debut album Ini Iye, Naye that also featured hits such as Wadiwa Wepamoyo and Nditore.
After this, GZE took a break from the limelight to focus on his education and career, but music remained an integral part of his life as he built a home studio where he would record. In 2013 he officially came out of retirement with the release of the star-studded single Vroom Vroom. It featured Zim Hip Hop pioneer Jnr Brown and was produced by one of the founders of the Urban Groove movement - Take 5ive. The song went on to achieve number 1 status across all Zimbabwean radio stations and was followed up by Imnhandu, John Bhuru, and Stabhai Kupratta which all achieved incredible radio and popular reception. This was cemented when Imhandu won Verse of The Year at the Zim Hip Hop Awards and Stabhai Kupratta won Song Of The Year at the StarFM Awards.
As a savvy businessman GZE released these singles and various mixtapes independently, they sold thousands of copies via a mobile money platform.
In 2021 he released the single and video for Muchinjikwa which speaks to the social issues plaguing Zimbabwe today. Now in 2022 GZE is preparing for the release of his debut solo album Chekera via his new management and label Point Black Africa.
Discography
Jesa - Chamhembe Delux
Ini Iye, Naye - 3rinity
400 Bars & Running Mixtape (2019)
Chekera (2022)
Awards
Best Hip Hop Verse for Imhandu - 2017 Zim Hip Hop Awards
Best Song for Stabhai Kupratta - 2019 StarFM Awards
Social Media
Best Of GZE Playlists
Music