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