Tina Masawi is a singer, actress and model born in Zimbabwe but currently based in Spain. According to Pindula before she relocated to Spain she had performed and toured with Jazz Invitation for three years. And she had also started releasing music through Showtime Records where she worked with Reverb7. 91 EP is the debut project from the artist and it comes filled with a rich RnB sound that goes right to the soul.
Although never having released a full length project Tina has put out a few singles with 3 coming less than a year before the release of her debut project. Confidence and Secret which came out first in early 2020 were feel good afrobeat tracks, a totally different sound from what's on 91. Old school love which came later carried more of the rich RnB sound which features throughout the latest project. 91 has 6 tracks and has 2 features on it with production of the project credited to Simba Tagz.
The opening track How Far starts off with this fire in it and it's like the recital of passionate poetry before it mellows out. It's an ode to the hardships we face and it's title is the question posed throughout the song "how far?" It has a varied instrumental that carries a rich African sound and yet the track has an RnB feel to it. It narrates the different cycles in life we go through while also asking when our "dreams" will come true.
Nyararara ft Fungai Nengare is a smooth love tune, the kind of song that's designed for comfort or when you lack and need to be comforted. Both artists perfectly compliment each other to make this a hit. Haundidaro has Tina serenading us in soft vocals as she questions the battles of love. It's not a song that embraces matters of the heart but rather it's on the opposite end of the spectrum. It sounds like Tina seeks to escape. "I try to pull away and you pull me in but I know you ain't gonna win.." she sings exposing the antagonistic relationship she has with love or rather her lover.
Ride for me takes me back to old school RnB, the late 90s and early 2000s sound. From the instrumental to the lyrical delivery, Tina takes us through the journey of falling in love with that classical sound. "I'm tired of going round and round with you turn my world upside down for you you have my mind spinning and it's true boy I was tripping for you..." It's not that deeply emotional sound but it's more uplifting, the kind of song you listen to when you're more euphoric as opposed to feeling nostalgic.
The track after Ride for me is Be Aright and it's a switch in sound but still very much within the frame of the project. The track follows the more modern sound of RnB but there's still a classical feel to the music. The song soothes and it carries the message of holding on. By the end of the first listen, "Don't let me go baby..." was ringing in my mind.
I love it ft Synik is the outro or final song and deservedly so. It takes us on a trip into the pop music genre but Tina still maintains a lot of her RnB influences. It's the get up and dance song on this project because as usual no album is complete without it. Synik comes through with a phenomenal verse in content delivery which is really the highlight of the song. It's right behind How Far as my favourite sounds on this EP and I wasn't a fan of Tina Masawi before but I'm definitely one now.
Greedysouth rating: 6.9/10