For the most part hip hop is driven by 2 sometimes contradictory factors: the observation of the rules that outline what it means to be an emcee and pushing the boundaries of what hip hop can be through experimentation. The first ensures that the essence of the art isn't lost, and the second allows the art for to keep evolving.
This evolution has birthed sub genres such as boom bap, trap, drill, and grime in the global landscape, and shebeen rap, trap sungura, jiti rap and Afro jecha within Zimbabwe's borders. In this same vein of moulding something new, Enotale Grim has taken inspiration from Tanto Wavie to twist sungura and hip hop into something unique to him.
Defining his sound as sungura rap, the artist's sonic explorations may begin with sungura but they certainly don't end there. The artist's rap moniker Enotale happens to be an anagram of his birth name Elatone, a fact that perfectly fits an artist described as the remix king. From global smash hits, to Zimbabwean classics and even war crys, Enotale finds a way to put a hip hop twist on everything as both rapper and producer.
In Aura, Enotale's innovative nature underlies almost everything he brings together. It is not the pronounced hybrid sounds of his TikTok's but there is a more subtle marriage of genres.
As he states right at the project's beginning, he just wants to make good music: "Ndine kanyaya kangu kadikidiki, ndoda kuburitsa mhanzi/Ine mabeats nice nema lyrikisi, anofadza wese nyanzvi." What unfurls next in "Aura (Inturo)" is a statement of hopes and dreams carried by melody over sungura inclined pop-esque production.
While the introduction sees Enotale with his head in the clouds, Aura is very much grounded. There is a counterweight to every emotion, a high for every low, a melody for every grinding verse. The gritty party anthem "Baka" revels in intoxication, an intoxication revealed to now be a sad way of life in "Pashata." The feeling of being head over heels in love on "Mudiwa," is tempered down by the disappointment on "Sadaro."
Instead of the usually expressive Enotale we find in viral clips, this EP sees the artist aiming to say as much as possible in the fewest of words. Gold when it works, but a chunk of rusted metal in the few moments when the message lost in translation. However in what makes it through there is a feeling of fatalism in the storytelling, particularly captured by a part of the hook on "Hasha" which paints life for the youth in Zimbabwe as living with no purpose: "Taabho hakuna mabasa, no mantra, no hakuna matata."
The bouncy "Capele" points a finger at the fake image people paint about their lives on social media, while "Chealer" is a moment of reprieve before "Aura (Outuro)" delivers a summation that reflects on how dreams take a sideline to the need for survival.
Aura rides on a pulse of heavy bass lines and dark atmospheres, interrupted by a select few moments of melody that showcase Enotale as adept at both singing and the art of rap. The sonic and thematic compasses wander at angle acute enough to give the project cohession. As an experimenter Enotale finds a right balance, that maybe just needed more expansive lyricism.
Greedysouth rating: 6.9/10