Zimbabwean drill is alive and well on the recent Zimhiphop release "Thaza". A collaboration between Chikk'oz and Nasper. Artists who are otherwise on the fringes of the mainstream but have come together to deliver a track that demands notice. Thaza is a song of motivation and it not only speaks about the grind & hustle, but reflects on the Zimbabwean situation.
Sonically the song has all the ingredients of what we love so much about Zimhiphop right now. The genre is a bursting cauldron of expression, countless sub genres, collaboration and experimentation, which all sum up Thaza.
It's a perfectly woven track. From the hook, to Chikk'oz' verses, his cadence is in sync with the tempo of the instrumental. On the song Thaza doubles as not only a word for the figure of a thousand dollars but also to simply mean money. Chikk'oz goes from reflecting about farming being affected by rain, to how Zimbabweans are now just earning to survive, and he touches on almost everything in the Zimbabwean money life cycle.
Yet no matter how serious a subject his lyricism constitutes, the track is never lacking in energy and his delivery is always to the right rhythm.
Birthed in Chicago, the sub genre of Drill Music arrived in Zimbabwe somewhat via a London detour. I don't know if it's due to shared tastes with our former colonisers, but the genre is firmly establishing its roots and local artists like Chikk'oz are making the sound their own with slight twists here and there.
We might not have the gun violence, or the shooting & killing of Chicago but Zimbabwe often beats to hungers fervent drum, and that's a violence of it's own. A fuel for our own surgically slow tempos and synthetic snares.
Thaza encapsulates everything that has made the Lil Durks and Chief Keefs so loved. The production has a brilliance that says it was labour of love and even the songs visuals are from outside the Zimbabwean box. Munya K masterfully directed the video, with a blast from the past in the fashion that instantly brings to mind Tanto Wavie.
Checkout the video for "Thaza" below:
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