Soosh. . . the baddest boy in 2010

Soosh(Tendai Maswiswi) is a man who needs no introduction to the XBC audience having graced our 2009 Top 30 jams with the heartfelt You Gone Now featuring Dee. You might remember him from the Zim Hip Hop duo DS & Soosh who gave you the album Clueless. 2010 is that kind of year where 'The baddest boy' (as he is known) is not holding back. He sent us 2 singles that are straight off the Richter Scale and we will get to those freebies in a moment....



What has Soosh been up to of late? Soosh (27) was based in Lusaka, Zambia and was working Hot 87.7 fm which is a private radio station as a radio deejay and as a club deejay and emcee at Zenon Night Club. Since the beginning of 2009 he has moved onto the Copperbelt (Kitwe to be exact) in Zambia and was working for YAR 89.8 fm, another private radio station. At the moment he is freelancing in the private sector of the entertainment world in 3 different countries. Rapper, DJ, maybe next he gon get into acting.

Check out the hot new singles, top notch and still mahara!

Move Back - Now this track is my personal favourite. Why? Coz it shows u exactly why Soosh is actually the baddest on the mic. Comparing with his previous work and taking nothing away from it, there is unmistakeable maturity and confidence. Lyrically, just so you know, you cannot afford to miss a word he says. I found myself laughing at the 'dig' at a long time rival of his (you know who he is, infact listen to the song if you don't). For the record Soosh my friend, i did rewind that part myself. I remember telling him how impressed i was with the overall production and in terms of quality this song is just about faultless. That is how WhereItsAt Records does things (shout out to DS!)
Download Move Back here (mp3): http://sharebee.com/cab7fa60

Close Your Eyes - There are some songs that go beyond a simple listening experience and Close Your Eyes is one such song. The emotional connection of the song had me in thought patterns i don't experience often. The realistic take on life here is one i appreciate and this defines an impressive touch of versatility in the new material. I have no doubts that if you don't know who Soosh is by now, your eyes are definitely closed.
Download Close Your Eyes here (mp3): http://sharebee.com/6f7ebc00

Wreckless - Riddim & Bassline (2010)

The name Wreckless dates back to the years when the urban genre started getting recognition with Chamhembe (That Squad) heading the whole thing. This man's CV is deep with the most popular of his collaborations being the song Kuchamhembe with the beautiful Tererai Mugwadi. Besides that he has done songs with the likes of Roki (Mazuva), James Adam(Chikondi) & the very sexy Cindy (Dhindindi).

Riddim & Bassline kicks off with an intro that gets you up on your feet, no holds barred. Reload carries the tempo of the intro with some seriously deep basslines and if there was anything like feel good dancehall this could just be it! It's a great way to start a CD with the positive vibes. One of the lead singles from this album is 4 Always featuring Rue. This is a mid tempo love song which would light up any party or gig without a doubt. Rue does a great job on this piece. I quite like the brand of dancehall that Wreckless brings to the table because it is unique and shows how much variety Zim dancehall has come to offer especially with the huge success of artists like King Shaddy, Winky D and Sniper Storm who mix English/patois with Shona.... And here comes Wreckless with a different style altogether!

Voodoo (loving the title in connection with the song!) is one of my favourite jams on a hip hop kind of beat. It features one of the first ever female vocalists on the urban scene, Sarah and i have to say whenever Wreckless collaborates with a female it always comes out wicked. Believe it or not given the song title, its a love song but cleverly expressed. The greatness extends to Love and Happiness featuring Nesu (this lady needs to drop an album, real talk). For a song about love given the style Wreckless delivers and how calm the song felt, i was nothing short of impressed. Undoubtedly one of the bangers on this album is Breeze featuring Cindy and Roki. The beat itself certifies this song as a hit. All three artists on this song make it such a great song and when we played it on the podcasts the response was quite encouraging. i loved Cindy's verse because it was so unexpected to take that 'patois' inclination. Another favourite of mine is Badman Territory and i would love to shake the hand of whoever produced that song. The beat is sick sick sick. The lead single, Evacuate, is right from the top drawer and it sums up much of this album for me.

After the listening experience i can say this 18 track album has more highs than lows. With a heavy production line up as well as collabos i found it pleasant to have so many different styles compiled into one. As i always say an 18 track album is a bit too much nowadays where an artist generally needs to try and captivate his audience in as few songs as possible. Other songs to look out for are Gimme Some More feat Kevie, From The Heart and Rub a dub. This is your 'Friday night at the club' and 'Saturday party after the bbq' kind of offering and if you are looking to have a good time with banging beats, look no further.

Cover Art - 7/10
Music - 7.5/10
Technical Sound - 7/10
'I Like Factor - 7/10

Winky D - Come 2 Tek Ova/Chatsva (2009)

It is without a doubt that Winky D is one of the most respected and possibly the hardest working dancehall artist in Zimbabwe at the moment. This comes after the smashing success of his 2008 full length debut, Vanhu Vakuru (though he claims to have 2 albums prior to that). Come 2 Tek Ova/Chatsva is the surprise double disc with 34 tracks released late last year. Chatsva is done mostly in Shona and Come 2 Tek Ova in English/patois.

Come 2 Tek Ova
Some fans will have seen the video for the song Mi Nah on youtube or wherever else (which isn't really anything to write home about, i liked the Luckspin Medley video a lot more). I like the melody and Winky proclaims that there are things he will never do which would otherwise taint his image and make him more of a hypocrite than anything. He heavily uses the auto-tune effect popularised by T-Pain. Education is The Key (as the title suggests) is self explanatory and its more for the young ones who he encourages to take school seriously. The song Moma is a dedication to his mother who he always mentions in regards to his success. The message is great but the execution left a lot to be desired, the beat was a huge let down like many others on this double CD.

She Loves Me takes a sample from Vybz Kartel's worldwide hit Virginity but is nowhere near as good. Disappointing to say the least. Bigger Size is a very sexually suggestive song about the done and dusted topic of 'does size matter'. It's actually quite hilarious and Winky D has a lot of humour in his lyrics which often makes his songs well worth a listen. Same goes for the song Yogueta (whatever that means). Love Magician explores the sexual side of things yet again and is a very well done piece. The riddim is straight from the top shelf, no questions asked. Haul & Pull Op is a favourite of mine and reminds me of the dancehall tracks of the early 2000s. I think Tell Her is is definitely the top cut from this CD considering the overall production. I am definitely feeling the riddim there which sounded solid and complete.

It came as a surpise that song of the moment 'Green Like Mi Garden' which could well be an international hit does not appear on this double disc. The song has a hip hop influenced beat with 'Di Big Man' coming in with some great flow and energy. It would have been a great inclusion.

Chatsva
Many tracks from this CD were previewed in 2009 on Winky D's facebook and reverbnation pages including favourites Zvimoko Zvevanhu & Mabhebhi Ekusabhabha. These 2 songs have some of Winky D's finest lyrics though the production was not really good he makes up for it in his witty choice of words. Zvimoko Zvevanhu iSong inokonzeresa and Winky refers to taking other peoples women with no regrets about it. I thought the versions we heard then were demo versions to be properly done and to my disappointment they seem to have been the final versions. On this CD Winky D picks up from where he left off on Vanhu Vakuru.

The title track is one of those typical Winky D certified hits. It comes with a great tempo and Winky lets all his haters know that he knows that they do not like him but that will not stop him. Great song. Bhasopo is in the same light as Chatsva and talks about how rumours surfaced that he 'disappeared' in London after his live shows. Ndimba Ndimba is one song that is a likely hit and takes after his previous hits like Vanofamba Vachitaura. Again it is a song about how Winky D has haters and those are the type of people his people know how to deal with. It seems a lot of his lyrics are riddled with violent subjects evidenced by songs like PaGaza, MaNinja and the hit song Iwewe.

The overall production on this double album is poor. There is hardly any decent mixing done here, so you might as well forget mastering at that. It's not something i would ever want to write about Winky D as he is one of my favourite artists in recent years but this project was rushed and nowhere near as well done as his previous offering. It seems to be a quickly put together, 'meant to be testimony of his hard work' kind of album but for me this does not fly. I would rather take 12 very well done songs with a decent effort put towards realising a high standard of music.

I know he has been getting rave reviews about this album from the local press but after taking a listen a lot of questions are raised. Lyrically, it does not seem like the man has grown much at all since his last release. Not that his lyrics aren't good, but he seems to be in the same zone as over a year ago which brings doubt to his versatility (of which he definitely has). I write all this simply because i know an artist of Winky D's calibre can do much better and with the standard he set on Vanhu Vakuru this is more of a backward step than forward. In comparison with Sniper Storm's The Voice album (one of Winky D's direct competitors in the dancehall game) i realise how unfair the music industry can be, because comparing the 2 it's very easy to tell where significant time and effort were put in yet hardly anyone speaks of Sniper's album besides it being very good. All in all Come 2 Tek Ova/Chatsva is a huge let down for me. Having written all this i can still bet my bottom dollar that he has already received enough 'big ups' for a job well done and his fans of old will love the album anyway.

Buy the album here:
http://winkydonline.com/blog/store/

Cover Art - 5/10
Music - 5/10
Technical Sound - 3/10
'I Like Factor' - 4/10