If you can rap about your hood in its uniqueness and memories embedded in it (from love life to parties). Or about a street in your city enough to make it famous. The decay of politics and political figures and the hustle of the youths in a country where they make the majority. Or even the xenophobic mindsets of a people divided by past deeds and leaders; while topping it off with well-thought-of musical accompaniment ranging from Jazz, Blues to Trap and still have enough in your tank to present it in a manner that is not only beautiful but also thought provoking. Then I guess you are entitled to call yourself the King of Zim Hip Hop.
I came late to this party I agree and so I had to do a lot of catching up. Like many, I suffered from a disease called Nostalgia. Of not wanting to let go of the old music that spoke to me when I grew up and the artists who (when I am with my peers always agree on) made a lot of sense.
It can be very hard today, to tell a staunch Tupac Shakur or B.I.G fan that Kendrick Lemar is in the same league or could be better. Such has been predicament, until I started taking the time off to listen to new music filtering in online from around the world, made by Zimbabweans.
I found myself falling in love again because for a brief moment I was wallowing in some depressing nostalgia zone that only COVID 19 cured. Because now I had to find out more about what's outside my box, i realised there was so much more!
When Asaph came into my radar, I probably treated him just like any other ambitious rapper in the country that self inaugurates themselves on a weak and easy inflatable throne while rapping some prickly, cheap an uneducated bars (these artists are still out there).
But, I was wrong. There is a good number of rappers in Zimbabwe enough to keep our hopes high of keeping the legacy of Shingirai and KingPinn alive.