The dancefloor is dead. This has been the ominous feeling around nightlife in the 2020s.
What was once a place of community turned to the individualistic. Where memories were once created turned into places for content. Where you went to get lost in the crowd now a place of ego. Where DJs once moved an audience now a place for social media friendly names that can draw a crowd.
Yet it's not all doom and gloom, because some forces remain defiant to the erasure of what once was.
Strictly Soul arrived with a promise of something different and more than that it was anathema to the dancefloor's decay. It was a place of song where you found your voice, got lost in the melodies and for a moment strangers were friends.
Akio, Robbie Tee, Springer and Reverb7 weren't just disc jockeys, but guides who made 6 hours simply disappear in an R&B time machine. La Parada's priority was still selling as many bottles as possible but the music curation was strictly focused on bringing together the right vibe, and that it did.
The night was warmed up with the 90s slow jams, featuring classics like Les Nubians' "Makeda," Al B Sure's "Nite and Day," Bobby Brown's "Good Enough," and New Edition's "Can You Stand In The Strain."
As the dancefloor filled up there was a corresponding elevation in BPM. The emotive became the soul stirring, and what made us sway in emotion became what made us breakout in song. Mariah the Scientist, Jhene Aiko, SZA, Rihanna, Whitney Houston, Bruno Mars, Joe, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, John Legend and Mary J. Blige were all on the sonic menu.
There was barely room for anything more than breathing (a different venue or less tickets next time please), it took 20 minutes to order the tequila shots the baddies were pouring down your throat and there was a line for the bathrooms, but the music made you look past all this. We wallowed in the sad love songs, revelled in the toxic ballads and sang loudly for both love and heartbreak.
We unleashed the dragon, had wild thoughts, got sprung and wondered what our name was. Strictly Soul was by no means the first time Harare had experienced an event that centred R&B, but it explored the genre and didn't give us a tired playlist that felt ripped straight from YouTube.
It was an occasion for the soul that made us float above our troubles, even though La Parada kept pulling us down to Earth.
Greedysouth rating: 7.5/10
All images used in this article are courtesy of JimShinky and Koopy Kwacho.