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Munya Chidzonga

Tafadzwa Zimoyo Entertainment Reporter
The Zimbabwe Hip-Hop Awards held at the 7 Arts Theatre on Wednesday have come and gone, but what a disappointment they were. The awards ceremony, which recognises local hip-hop artistes, started two hours late and, to make matters worse, the organisers made no apology.

“I think these guys are taking us for granted. According to the programme, the show was supposed to start at 7pm but nothing is happening yet and we are just stuck in the auditorium,” said one irate fan.

The show ended around 1am, spilling into the after party which was expected to start at 11pm at Club Envy.

“I think they chose the wrong day for the show. It’s the mid-week and most of us go to work the following day, so we would have wanted the show to be finished by 11pm. We had to leave before the climax of the show which wasn’t worth the money we paid,” Tatenda Makudya of Avondale said.

Hip-hop in Harare has a great following, as seen by the numbers that showed up, but the organisers are failing to give the fans a fine-tuned show.

There were several glitches prior to the ceremony, with disgruntled judges expressing their disappointment via Facebook before they pulled out of the show. There were reports that the judges had not been given CDs for adjudication.What most people asked was whether or not the whole adjudication was credible. Talk of the decor and glamour, when one thinks of hip-hop there is a standard that is expected especially the glitz and glamour but there wasn’t any at the event, save for the fans who came dressed to the nines.

The PA system was poor and most performers complained about it.
Mudiwa Mtandwa’s long-awaited “10/10” was a disappointment because of the nasty feedback and eventually he did lip sync. He put up a scintillating performance with a talented dance group as they did the “sakura” dance.

Stage management was poor as people were seen randomly crossing the stage even during the performances.
On a lighter note, the host Munya Chidzonga aka Diamond Boy did an excellent job keeping the audience entertained.

Talk of fashion, the hip-hop fans know how to dress for the occasion.
The organisers should take a leaf from other awards as this year was the worst compared to previous years.
They should learn from their mistakes. Hope next year the event will be bigger and better.

Hip-hop is a culture and can it be preserved.