When it comes to Zimbabwean music, there are few genres as deeply entrenched in the country's history as jit, maybe none.
To describe it in short it is Shona dance music. A genre based on call and response, traditionally underlied by the rhythm of drums and clapping hands. It has proliferated into almost every part of Zimbabwean life and can found in the funeral dirges, the sports war crys, and even the songs of protest. It is rich in metaphors, littered with humour, and often rife with sexual innuendo.
As a contemporary genre its most important interpretations have been that of the Bhundu Boys and Baba Harare. While the Bhundu Boys' take was one led by guitar with rock and country influences, Baba Harare has pioneered a sound centred on drums with Afro pop influences.
Since ventnturing out on his own, after leaving Jah Prayzah's band, Baba Harare has become a beacon for jit as a genre. The artist's run since 2019 has seen the sound return to the mainstream heights of the 80s, while connecting to a generation that was yet to fall in love with the sound.
After a 5 album run that culminated in the release of Prove Them Wrong in 2023 (arguably his most impactful body of work), Baba Harare left jit for gospel. This change in genre was however a brief change in gear, and the singer has once again returned to his roots. Pedzai Navo arrives as the exclamation point on this return.
8 tracks in length with features such as Nashie Zim, Feli Nandi, Runna Rulez, Nutty O, Sekuru Gudo Weru and Frets Donzvo, it carries an interpretation of indigenous sound unique to Baba Harare. While it may arrive 3 years after his last jit project, it sounds like he never left. Jit meets Afro jazz, Afro pop, Michael Jackson and amapiano, while never being diluted beyond recognition.
"Danga Remombe" is ignited by humour, before delivering a softly sung love song. "Hombe" offers up social commentary on the plight of diaspora couples, while being anchored by the dream to return home a success. "Nezvangu" is a message for people to mind their own, a track somewhat echoed by "Pedzai Navo" which asks to defeat one's enemies.
All through the album percussion and ribald humour are constants. This is especially true for "Tsa Tsa Tsa," the album's standout track. A tale of infidelity that has fast paced drums and a style of singing rooted in the ancient ways of jit, so much so that the song feels like it could've been released in the 80s.
The album delivers its most unexpected moment in "Ndiyani Asingadi," a brilliant jit interpolation of the King Of Pop's "Will You Be There," before closing out in the Feli Nandi assisted duet "Don't Tell Me."
Pedzai Navo delivers a fitting exclamation point for the return of jit's most important proponent of the 2000s. It is an album with a wealth of musical heritage that is appreciative of the moment, and it showcases Baba Harare at his very best.
Greedysouth rating: 7.8/10