When you look at the heart of hip hop and rap as an art form, what you often find is a reflection of our lived realities. The stories of our daily lives. The good, the bad, the highs, the lows, the black, the white, and even the grey. Wrapped in a sheen of lyrical ingenuity and rich vocabulary.
Bling4 has always had a way of navigating this well. In fact, the sad state of affairs that is the Zimbabwean youth's daily experience has been a constant theme in his work. These narratives are at the fore of the rapper's debut album, Hosanna, yet that sheen of great songwriting that usually covers them feels a little thinner.
Hosanna is a story told across 10 chapters, and it is by no means bad, however, it feels like it didn't fulfill it's potential. Titled with a biblical/religious word of adoration and accompanied by artwork that speaks to spirituality, the album makes a fair fulfilment of this with multiple prayers in music form.
The intro and title track, Hosanna, sees Bling4 asking for his prayers to be heard: "Patinoti hosanna, hosanna, minamato yedu ngaisagumire munzira." There's a great harmony to it from the choir that sings the chorus, and Ghost the Magician's production is fitting. Bling4's cadence, along with the tracks tempo bring a layer of solemnity to the message.
From the biblical, the album dives into a more indigenous spiritual system with "Mupei Wine." Centred on a woman who channels the beauty of near mythical spirits, the track sees Bling4 and SaintFloew going all out in ways they can describe a woman as beautiful: "Tsono yeipapo, boys mwana munzwa...// Main plus main ndewekuvharira mucircuit."
Hosanna feels like window into Bling4's spiritual world view; "Ndionesei" is a plea for guidance from God that has a heavy bass line while still melancholic, while the Nyasha Timbe produced "Vekudzinza" takes on traditional Zimbabwean sound elements (along with the violin) makes the same request to Bling4's ancestors.
The album strongly embraces pop influences in the love songs "Mwana Wenyu" and Bling4's duet with Tamy Moyo "Tingori Two." Both decent songs but there's something that feels missing in the songwriting.
"Hope Dzandairota" comes as the celebratory anthem of dreams being achieved, which in true Bling4 fashion still manages to sound somber. A measured realisation of how time spent chasing dreams has beared fruit. Voltz JT delivers a verse with multiple quotables, that's easily the standout feature on this project: "Pamwe ndisu tine problem, kutrusta vanhu pane kutrusta process/Izvezvi tiri kurota taama tourists, mari kuma savings, kwete kurarama nezino kunge dentist."
"Boyz Rangu" hits a similar vein in reflecting on more upbeat emotions. It's a celebration of Bling4 and those around him, and fittingly features his protège, Runna Rulez, who's cadence mannerisms make his memorable. It closes out the project on a brighter note, and definitely to everything good about Hosanna, however, it doesn't remove that feeling of the album not quite being enough.
The narrative brilliance that has been behind Bling4's rise to prominence is there in moments, and in an individual regard many of the tracks are really good work. Yet as an album, it feels like some pieces don't fit. There's a sentiment of something lacking. In part it's definitely the weight of expectations, especially after how good his last year release, Ghetto Yut EP was.
However, these feelings aside, Bling4 showcases a diversity to himself as an artist and provides a few great selections to add to our playlist. It's not the album we expected but it's still in sight of the work of peers, and with the difficulty of a debut offering in mind that's at least a win.
Greedysouth rating: 6.4/10
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