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The stage was lit, the sound system was on point and most artists dished out palatable acts, but the crowd was nowhere to be found.
It is not clear whether people’s absence at the just ended Shoko Festival in Harare was a sign that Zimbabweans are not that much into hip hop music or that they did not like the line-up.
Despite the poor attendance, Bulawayo acts showed why their city is called the City of Kings by dominating the stage with loads of acts on the line up.
However, it was Cal Vin who had the crowd screaming “one more, one more”. But like all good things, his set had to come to an end and pave way for the main act, Emtee from South Africa. The hip hop sensation had very big shoes to fill following his countryman, A.K.A’s epic performance at last year’s edition of the Shoko Festival.
Emtee came out strong with his popular hit ‘Roll Up’ and his set had people in awe. The small crowd went closer to the stage and doubled in a short space of time. Everyone was on their feet screaming his name and singing along. The peak of his performance was when he took the Zimbabwean flag and embraced it – that was the climax. The rest of his performance was just moderate.
Interestingly, asked which Zimbabwean rapper he would like to collaborate with, Emtee said none preferring to work with contemporary musician – Jah Prayzah instead.
“Well, he’s not really a rapper, but I’d like to collaborate with Jah Prayzah. I like Jah Prayzah,” said Emtee.
This showed that local hip hop artistes have a lot of work to do in promoting their careers to appeal to international audiences. For a long time, Zim hip hop has been criticised for not being “originally Zimbabwean”, an attribute that Jah Prayzah’s music has.
“My genre is African trap. I am talking about African situations, our societies and the things we go through. What I’ve realised and something I’ve always wanted to change is people duplicating the American sound. Why not talk about our lives and situations – how we face problems here in Africa or Southern Africa in an African way?” said Emtee. – ZimboJam