Conceived in 2024, and making it's debut with the likes of Dough Major, Dingo Duke, RayKaz, Bhekiwe, Rudo Jackie and Lalla Martin, MaShoko Tapes is a series of compilation albums that celebrates Shoko Festival - Zimbabwe's longest running festival of urban culture (they would not be happy with me if I left that out). Possibly the greatest idea they've had since they first thought up the festival itself. A collaboration of artistry, a blending of sounds, a spotlight for rising voices.
The first volume was themed "Both Sides of Samora," the story of the two sides of Zimbabwe's economic divide (a divide getting smaller and smaller because tese hatina mabasa), and the second edition was anointed "The Legacy," a celebration of Shoko Festival's 15 years of existence.
Yet while there is a decade and a half behind it, the artists that make the cohort of Vol 2 don't let that weigh heavy on them. In fact right from the album's beginning, "Asambe," they issue a call to action (and send a few shots) that it's time for a new generation to takeover.
MaShoko Tapes Vol 2 has dancehall and hip hop (alongside contemporary R&B) as it's core sounds. The curatorial work of The ZUU, and possibly a demand by Riddims & Raps founder Takudzwa Manando (harisi pabirth) before he agreed to do this edition's interlude. Yet again if Shoko bowed down to demands, Dennis Shoko would've surely had Holy Ten on the first compilation before agreeing to doing that edition's interlude.
However it came to be, Shoko's second tape has a curating that feels particularly guided by artistic chemistry. The album artwork featuring the name of every performer to ever grace the Shoko stage is a small window into this intentionality (hats off to the graphic designer).
Briza and Paintafresco are a match for each other's energy on "Asambe," Enhle and Yadis the perfect compliment on "Party," Segulm and Natasha Muz like 2 urban groovers in the mid 2000s on "Huya." From start to finish, this album is a story of penmanship and versatility. Even Manando's meandering monologue on "MaShoko aManando" celebrates the creators that came before, that exist now, and that will create in the future, in a heartfelt way that ChatGPT couldn't emulate even if it was coded in Shona.
"Party," "Uthando," "Calling," and "One Missed Call" see Enhle delivering vocals with the softness of a flap of a butterflies. "Bhompi," ""Handina Ndai," "Ndombolo," and "Huya" see Segulm drift from dancehall to R&B, the humourous to the emotive, with a certain dexterity. Not that his disses have been bad (Sorry Kwela), but across his verses Briza proves that he's one the very best among this new generation of rappers when he's not preoccupied with getting his shots off at his "enemies."
Yadis is effortless, with each verse seemingly more memorable than the next, and she delivers one the standout lines on the project with, "My top 3 is me rapping on beats in different genres" on "Party" with Enhle. On the dancehall track "Handina Ndai" - arguably this album's best song - Paintafresco goes, "Manje ndikavhunduka hazvibude, ndiripo pachigaro handisimuke/Energiser bunny handifizuke, mukomana magetsi haadidhinguke," and that sums him up best. He is confidence and rhythmic cadence in every moment he's called upon.
Tulk Munny makes an appearance for the Shoko Festival legends on "Purring 'n' In," and driven by captivating storytelling and clever wordplay, the song stands out among the rap performances: "Isusu tinenge tichiona prophet anebango nemazhaba, tinenge taakutoti level racho rekunamata ranyanya/Tinenge taakutoti mweya waakupisa kudarika summer, wakambogaya kutendeutswa nechikwama?"
The supporting cast (Dingo Duke, Runna Rulez, Super Muno, Kurry Suave) are all a great compliment to tape's make up, with Natasha Muz's performance on "Huya" being most memorable ("Kana nzizi dzoyerera, ganda ndamerera, mudiwa ndaperera" is beautiful songwriting), especially paired with the song's ode to traditional Zimbabwean sounds (a growing feature on urban albums). "Uthando" is soulful, "Bhompi" hilarious and rife with sexual innuendo, while "H-Metro (Read Em & Weep)" is a performance of lyrical gymnastics perfect for hip hop heads and "Ndombolo" exotic with it's rhumba and soca influences.
MaShoko Tapes is a platform for the new generation of voices, and it seems those voices are making the best of it. Sequels are rarely better than the first film but here a cohort of musical actors proves to be the exception to that rule (the project's few flaws aside). The Legacy is album is an album that is possible because of the 15 years that came before, yet it sees new names building a legacy of their own.
Greedysouth rating: 7.8/10
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