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The modern Zimbabwean sound is a fusion of local and international genres curated by various native music producers.

For example, Tamuka “DJ Tamuka” Mponda-Makuluni of Mushroom Media, who recently produced Nutty O’s critically acclaimed debut album “Mustard Seed” pulls from R&B.

Another producer of note is Simbarashe “Cymplex” Moyo of Cymplex Music, who produced 2020 Zimdancehall Song of the Year contender, “Fadza Mutengi” by Poptain and Allanah.

Prince “Oskid” Tapfuma of Oskid Productions made a household name in 2016 for his production work on Winky D’s “Gafa Life” album, a distilled version of Zimbabwe pop.

Macdonald “Macdee” Chidavaenzi of Eternal Productions is another versatile local music producer who has worked with several Zimbabwean artistes including Trevor Dongo on his latest album “5136 Born In Highfield” for a smoothed out afro fusion.

Local genres that influence modern Zimbabwean music are mbira, a traditional Zimbabwean instrument and sungura — a more established retro 80’s Zimbabwean genre influenced by Kanindo from Eastern Central African origins — that grew from farms and ghettos.

Internationally, the genres that influence Zimbabwean sounds are primarily Dancehall, Hip Hop and House music.

Local musicians who pursued this international sound were initially bundled together in the early 2000s to form a new genre called “Urban Grooves”, but the current generation of artistes and producers have moved away from the term.

Tanto Wavie

Instead, local dancehall is called Zimdancehall, local hip-hop is called Zim-hip hop and so on and so on.

Zimbabwean modern sound is vibrant and much too diverse for us to sum it up in a couple of songs, but below are a few artistes and their standout tracks that can help lift the Zimbabwean music veil.

Roki — “Patati Patata” (feat. Koffie Olomide, Rayvanny)

After a decade-long hiatus, Roki’s rich timbre remains unmatched on “Patati Patata,” a song featuring Koffie Olomide from Democratic Republic of Congo and Rayvanny from Tanzania. The collaboration generated a ton of hype on social media as both artists flew into Zimbabwe to record the song and music video.

Oskid and Lizer Classic (Zimbabwe) at Passion Java Records produced “Patati Patata” whilst Director Kenny (Tanzania) handled the visuals.

Tanto Wavie — “Mabhachi” (feat Denimwoods)

Tanto Wavie and Denimwoods are both up and coming Zim Hip-Hop artistes that represent the future of the genre. “Mabhachi” is a track off “Tanto Wavie’s” latest album titled “Sungura Museve”. On the track, “Tanto” compares himself to Rambo in the jungle, who will devour critics and detractors alike with finesse while elevating his pop-wise sound to grandiose heights.

Vusa Mkhaya — “Masiyephambili” (feat. Byo Artistes)

Bulawayo is a city bursting with emerging talent and most artists support and show up for each other. This is what “Masiyaphambili” is about, a song by Austrian based, Bulawayo native Vusa Mkhaya, who somehow managed to squeeze 17 Bulawayo based artistes on the song.

Nutty O — “Trouble In the city”

Nutty O first emerged on the Zimdancehall music scene in 2015 with catchy melodic vocals of an international dancehall star, in an industry where most artistes had diverted to a more home-grown sound, dubbed Zimdancehall that sounded completely different from Jamaican dancehall.

Nutty O took his time to perfect his craft, and his debut album Mustard Seed arrived 6 years later, in September 2021, to critical acclaim.

Holy Ten — “Time” (feat  Dadza D)

Every five years or so, a Zim hip-hop artiste is on the verge of crossing over into the mainstream but fails becoming a one hit wonder.

Holy Ten broke out in 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown with relatable content about everyday struggles and mental health issues. He then went on an unprecedented run becoming a certified hitmaker releasing fire songs every month for about six months or so. His buzz was enormous, climaxing with an album titled “Risky Life,” where this song “Time” is featured.

Jah Prayzah — “Svovi”

Svovi is a romantic Shona word that means “favourite person”. Oliver Mtkudzi first popularised the word on a song titled “Mbabvu Yangu” and here, Jah Prayzah expands on the same love theme but with a different message and sound altogether.

The song was released as a single during Jah Prayzah’s “Gwara” album roll out, but he specifically announced the track was not part of the album. — PAM