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Leroy Dzenga Lifestyle Writer
When more nuanced genres started replacing the assorted urban grooves, a lot of artists falling within the latter were forced to reinvent themselves.

The likes of Stunner leaned more to hip hop, while Nesto settled for a danceable afro-fusion sound.

His journey has seen him drop hits intermittently like My Chocolate and Ngala Ngala.

Despite the lack of consistency in releasing groovy content, the crooner (real name Ernest Manandi) has greatly improved on his branding and approach to business.

His latest offering The Forever EP is testament to his progression as it can be interpreted as a show of intent from an artist ready to break from the unflattering world of spaced releases.

The project sounds like hip hop and rhumba genres were thrown into a blender.

Although unpredictable, the sound was to be expected with Hitsquad Music Group on the credits as the handlers of the production. They have been making a name with their funky Afro-element sound where they utilise traditional instruments in a way that fuses with the contemporary urbane sound.

After a few controversial years which have seen Nesto and his wife Tererai hit the headlines in undesirable light, the couple reassured each other in the title track Forever.

The song if well marketed is set to be a wedding hit, tempo and beat has all the makings of a sing along jam favoured by people in merrier times.

Long known as a versatile musician, Nesto tried his hand at hip hop in the EP.

Not a disastrous attempt, Mukulu is a comical but decent composition, a braggadocio trap song something one would expect from eccentric rap acts.

The bars on the track are not as tight but commercial hip hop has since deviated from skull cracking lyricism anyways, as long there is groove and wit, it can pass and Nesto ticked those boxes.

Rhumba singer Madiz also lent his voice to the project in the song in the song Tiri Kufara.

The two artists who have a track record of producing party hits could have done better as the chorus sounded too generic although the McHudson produced beat saved the song.

In the after hours in a club, it can work, but in times of attentive listening there appears to be something lacking in that collaboration.

Garry Tight and Colonel Mk were also featured on the EP which has hit potential.

The mastering is clean and there is a possibility that radio, club DJ’s will love the new repackaged Nesto sound.

One hopes it does not suffer the same fate as many other endurable and brilliant projects released in Zimbabwe, they do not go far beyond the producer`s computer.

If Nesto has a marketing plan for his The Forever EP, he may be on to something good.