In 2018, trends shifted in Zimbabwe’s pop music fraternity.
The domination of airwaves by acts such as Jah Prayzah, Winky D, and Killer T amongst others began to decline gradually as new acts started to emerge with a different flair that offered music lovers much-needed variety.
One act who rose from the year 2017 to 2018 and is now a revered brand in the showbiz fraternity is Jah Signal. With each track, he released he gained fans across the length and breadth of Zimbabwe. Today, promoters can confidently place him as the headline act as they know he always delivers.
In 2019 he was one of the busiest artists, travelling from one continent to the other, dazzling audiences in places as far as Dallas Texas in the USA.
Another act who boomed in 2018 was the little known Enzo Ishal. With his unique way of doing dancehall, he won the hearts of Zimbabweans in flash.
From mid-2018 till the end of the year it was all about Enzo.
He topped charts from winter till summer and deservedly won a NAMA in the year 2019. He becomes the second dancehall alongside Tocky Vibes to win a NAMA, outside Winky D.
Then came 2019 with another dark horse named Ishan.
From nowhere, following in the footsteps of his colleagues, Enzo and Jah Signal, the lad wowed the nation with his single ‘Kure’.
The deep message in the song resonated with many and it instantly became a hit – at one time topping charts on Power FM, Star FM and ZiFM Stereo at the same time.
This is a rare feat that even the big boys have not done in a long time.
At the end of the year, the track was on pole position on Power and Star FM end of year charts whilst the video was third on the video showdown, Coke on the beat.
If this pattern persists in 2020, which is the most likely thing, Zimbabwean music lovers will be in for a treat and in the process, more freshman in the game will gather confidence to press on toward the goal!
