Precious Herschneider Frank who goes by the name Phreshy is a hiphop/RnB artist who hails from Zimbabwe's El Dorado, Kwekwe. And in the true nature of city's with precious rocks, she is a gem herself. Phreshy is not a new name in Zimhiphop circles although she's yet to have her breakout moment as far as mainstream Zimbabwean music is concerned. 2019 saw her walk away with the Best Female Award at the Zimhiphop Awards. The same year in which she dropped her highly acclaimed EP, Muzambangwena which was a 10 project filled with features from some of Zimhiphop's finest.
A few months ago she gave us her follow up project to Muzambangwena, Dzerudo EP. A short 4 track project that talks about the subject of love. After a few listens of both her recent projects I can say Muzambangwena was a lot more diverse body of sound when compared to Dzerudo. It had everything from trap beats to the more subdued RnB sound that makes up most of the songs on Dzerudo. Although Phreshy does less artistic exploration it doesn't make it any less good. It's a change of pace but a welcome change.
Online (Hit me up) is the opening song of the EP and it's a questioning song if that makes sense. Phreshy is posing a question as to why her love ignores her when she calls and she's asking him to hit her up when he's online. The song begins with a voicemail message and it's a soulful song with a delicate tempo that truly drives home the lyrics. Phreshy exposes her constant need for attention and she talks about it like an addiction that regularly needs to be satisfied. On one end you could say the song is lonely but yet still beautiful.
Kekubirira feat. Tshaka kicks off with a high energy that it maintains throughout. It feels like a blend of Zimhiphop, RnB and Afrobeats. In its essence the song is Phreshy trying to initiate an affair. The chorus goes, "Ndine mukomana, iwe une musikana, ngatingodanana watinoudza hapana. Kekubirira, kalove kekubirira..."
Tshaka delivers a phenomenal verse in his hoarse voices with Jamaican dancehall undertones to his delivery. All together the song is a jam, the balance in lyrical delivery, the lyricism itself and the dynamic of the beat.
Why goes back to the sound of how the EP opened with Online. It's Phreshy again asking questions of her love though in this instance it's not about a distant lover. The track has that same slow tempo and Phreshy displays her vocal range. It's a relatable tune that's surely designed to evoke emotions in anyone who's had the same experiences. I love how Phreshy expresses herself and it seems like she puts in a lot of personal experiences into her lyrics.
Same Old Thing feat. Phante might be Phreshy's song but without a doubt it belongs to the both of them. It's the definition of a duet and Phreshy switches pace from the other tracks in this project by taking up the role of a rapper in the first verse. Phante has amazing vocals that are in near synch with the beat and I have to say he stole the show on this one.
The production on this project was done by Vic Enlisted and Afrow Zenda, and I have to give it to these guys for their work. The music is clean and the vocal-instrumental balance gives a good learning experience.
Greedysouth rating: 6.6/10