The national lockdown saw many gates getting sealed as people were not allowed in out and out of many spaces.
But, nobody ever thought that the bars at those gates would start dropping so heavily a few days after President Mnangagwa had announced stage two of the lockdown.
People began putting masofa panze basking in the sun because as the bars were falling even lectures resumed online.
Meanwhile, others were busy on the streets vakatsika gas delivering dhaf to only those who were wearing the now mandatory face masks.
This past week was a blast!
If you were not following the events then paragraph one to three will not make sense but do not worry we got you.
For the first time in a while, hip hop was the talk of the town in Zimbabwe. Even political battles were on some days overshadowed by the thick juicy beef between Resilience Gze and Noble Stylz.
Music lovers who have now come accustomed to live Facebook shows got a chance to experience something different and very refreshing as nobody had seen it coming.
Sadly, after a week it seems the noise will fade and it just might be business as usual – hip hop goes back to the terraces as dancehall takes back the limelight, unless another miracle happens.
So how did all these shenanigans start one would wonder?
It was just because of a simple Instagram battle…
“The whole thing started when he (Noble) started disrespecting an initiative that I had put together for hip hop just trying to keep this culture alive during this lockdown,” said Gze.
“I was hosting Instagram battles for artists to go back and forth celebrating their catalogues, something just fresh, light and fun, nothing intense. I figured given that we are already in a tough space due to the virus if we put something that is too intense then it would become emotional and sensitive.”
Gze says he approached Noble to battle Cal_Vin.
“He agreed to the battle and also highlighted that he wanted to do a bars battle and not a records battle. I agreed but had to confirm with Cal_Vin if that would be fine with him. I did exactly that but Cal_Vin had his own reservations.
“So we ended up agreeing that it would be Noble and I who would do the bars battle and with Cal_Vin it would strictly be records.”
Gze adds that Noble agreed to the aforementioned arrangement but when he failed to pitch up for the battle highlighting that he had other commitments that’s when the action started.
“…when people asked him why he did not show up for the battle, instead of explaining to them what really happened he chose to say something like, I do not do battles where you play records that you probably recorded 29 takes while you looking at the producer ndezvemhanga mhanga and things like that.
“So that made me feel like he was disrespecting my platform as a friend and as a brother. If he did not want to do that he could have simply told me that this is not the platform that I want to do my thing and we could have left it like that respectfully,” revealed Gze.
So it was from this background that Gze dropped the first dis track Fatality.
But, Noble who was short and brief in his responses says he never disrespected anyone’s platform.
“No I didn’t,” responded Noble to whether he had disrespected or dissed Gze’s platform. “I had issues with rappers not wanting a battle that changes the narrative of a culture like what has just happened and look where hip hop is now.”
Noble also agreed that the whole fiasco started with the battle pitting Cal_Vin and him.
“Actually, he reached out to Cal_Vin to battle me on real bars not playing songs and when Cal_Vin said he wasn’t comfortable we then chilled.
“Then they went on to try play songs. I replied to Cal_Vin stating that it is not going to grant hip hop relevance playing songs instead let’s trade bars it intrigues the people. I went on to do that with Ti Gonzi, we hit 60 000 views in 30 minutes,” narrated the rapper.
The C10 singer also added that he deliberately softened up in his response to Fatality.
“Initially, I felt like not going beast mode. I kept it light and traded puns/wordplay/metaphors I was going to gladly let the guy ride on my wave I could even allow five guys to do that because the bigger picture is hip hop needs more people here. That’s the key.
“So naturally I went for the bigger picture until I thought ok wait? These folks really want this? After the initial one I knew that most people will realize with time, what I said was complex and can easily fly over people’s heads so with a freelancing troll farm you can try to pass it off. That’s what they did, I laughed because I know the sting it gave them,” highlighted the rapper.
He further highlighted that he knew what he was doing from the beginning.
“I set this all up in my head those who know me understand how I am always steps ahead. Hence I easily switched on the second track and body bagged everyone. I can do that any day everyday but that’s not the motive right now hence after that I softened again.”
Noble stated that the bigger picture is getting into mainstream conversations as a genre.
“Having a battle on TV on a great budget, so the same way I softened on the third track it’s all in the mode to make the battle happen.”
However, there will be no battle as Gze says this was never about battling in a post on his Facebook page.
“This was never a battle for clout or money, but a lesson in respect. Part of the reason for this battle is demonstrated by what’s going on right now ; which is that, regardless of how highly you view yourself as a person/ rapper, how conscious or “ill” you are , you have no license to disrespect those that actively choose to channel their talents towards the mainstream and go commercial. In trying to publicly dis and demean others as inferior rappers or “lesser hip hop” than, you could surprise yourself and your fans by getting stripped down and murdered on wax. For the culture,” reads part of the post made by Gze.
Noble also took to Facebook expressing his disappointment regards how things have played out.
“The Culture Missed A Turn. We let it down. I will collect some cheques off this but there was so much more for the culture we let it down. It was way way way bigger than both of us. Aluta Continua,” reads part of the post on Nobles Facebook page.
