Before the word ghetto entered our lexicon, high density suburbs were referred to as locations - pronounced lokeshen. In these places existed, and still exist, unlicensed establishments that sell liquor which are named shebeens. A colonial relic from a time when black people still needed passes approved by the government to drink clear alcohol.
In these establishments a community comes together over a communion of intoxicants. Relationships are formed. A cultural epicentre sprouts into existence. In this Dingo Duke's Lokeshenships comes full circle. An album driven by shebeen rap, a sound Dingo pioneered, offering up reflections of the place that birthed it.
For the uninitiated shebeen rap is a sub genre of Zimbabwean hip hop that blends together raw lyricism with kwaito, hip hop, township jazz, and funk alongside other elements. Rooted in the community, shebeen rap is equal parts retrospective and future-forward - equal parts groove and grit. It is inherently nostalgic and constantly humourous.
Lokeshenships arrives as Dingo Duke's third album and it is a work of world building that brings to mind writers like J.K. Rowling. Across the 17 tracks that make it up, Dingo paints a vivid picture of the world he lives in. Opening with "Every Monday," and closing with "Every Sunday," the project is curated to resemble a week in the rapper's life. There is a cycle to the township life that is particularly captured at Lokeshenship's beginning and its end.
In the lens Dingo puts on the community around him, he doesn't shy away from any subject. Love, loss, depression, substance abuse, prostitution, crime, religion and even politics are all reflected upon in a way only Dingo Duke knows how.
"Smoke Session" tells the story of how the neighbourhood is stuck in a cocoon of escapism fuelled by despair, and one that doesn't discriminate by age: "Underage boys vakanyura mubooze/Vachingoti ndikoko we got nothing to lose." This is a reappearing motif throughout Lokeshenships, echoed in the daily mental struggles of life listed in "BP," the infectious street anthem "Kumaraini Kwedu," and the reflections on the location lifestyle in "Bottle Store Blues."
In Dingo Duke's view escaping a life of escapism is an act only possible for the lucky few: "Life yemudendere ukaibuda upemberere." Yet as much as he understands that intoxication as a way of life is ultimately unsustainable, Dingo comes to the defense of this way of life in "Away." However this is less choosing a side but the artist offering up an understanding of the status quo.
In essence this is what Lokeshenships as an album is, an unfiltered presentation of what life in the location looks like, delivered with nuance. The correlations and causations. A mirror for Dough Major's (who he won Duo of the Year with in 2024) Shebeen Rap Papa, Vol.2 but distinct in perspective.
Undoubtedly a great listen, it exudes with great writing. The anthropomorphic "Dope Story" tells the story of marijuana from the plant's perspective, delving into substance abuse and even corruption in an almost allegorical lens, "Tsotsi" is littered with comic relief as Dingo personifies a criminal, and "A Henny For Calfire" is a heartfelt letter to the afterlife in honour of a lost friend.
In the bouncy grooves weaved together by Case Btz, Terry Kush, itsBRYNE, Sensei Jay, Boy Tanza, Honey Uchi and Boy Tricky, Dingo Duke is a masterful storyteller. Interrogating existence as a whole in some moments, narrating lived experiences in others, and at times simply entertaining, Lokeshenships is a brilliantly executed concept album.
Greedysouth rating: 8.2/10