Everyone’s stuck at home, and everyone’s going live.
It appears that the only one really fun and entertaining thing about this COVID-19 shut-in situation is the emergence of internet beat/song/hit/rap battles between so many of our favourite artists, whether hip-hop or RnB.
While somebody has to lose in these instances, the legacies of the artists are set in stone, so it’s more fun and games than true kingmakers or career-enders.
In some cases, folks are even being put up on game as there are no losers here. Plus, it’s really fun to see thousands of folks from all walks of life tuned in to the same thing enjoying raps and tunes that have revolutionised the sound and moved the culture forward.
Since President Emmerson Mnangagwa extended the lockdown by two weeks, it looks like we won’t be allowed to leave our homes anytime soon and we might need more virtual entertainment to keep us lucid by briefly distracting us from the daily onslaught of bad news we’ve been bombarded with lately.
Although a bit late in catching up with the now commonplace trend of live versus battles, Zimbabwe rap artists seem all wired up to ruff each other’s feathers.
From the TL reports we are gathering and assessing, the trend will only get bigger before it dies down as we have already started seeing lacklustre pairings soon or wordsmiths.
It all started with multi-award-winning rapper Mudiwa who on Saturday challenged his peers for a song or songs Instagram battle, arguing that it was a better initiative at spending time than hurling at each other online.
“For the Culture, i suggest a battle of Songs for Zim Hip Hop Artists. Kana wako akaipa tag him auye tifare battling…Zimbos we are one people lets practice love than entertaining HATE. #LetUsStopTheHate,” he wrote.
Bulawayo-based rapper Mgcini Cal_Vin Nhliziyo, who happened to have worked with bigger regional stars like Cassper Nyovest, was swift to respond to Mudiwa, both checking him out and accepting his challenge.
“How yu gon let @MudiwaHood disrespect the culture like this, someone needs to tell him to chill b4 a none graduate blow his bubble. As for me I dnt hv best dressed awards in my living room bt actual awards n can go 30 bangers against him any day,(sic)” he wrote.
In another tweet, the “Perfect Balance” rapper warned that Mudiwa should stop his tendency of taking it out on rap artists every time he “gets called out by fans” on social media.
“dt sh*t needs to end, call me out for a battle any day bro, imma end dt fake glory u basking in, on GOD,(sic)” Cal_Vin added.
Word got out and rap debates erupted on the timelines, with rap hip-hop fanatics arguing the possibility of a Mudiwa versus Cal_Vin battle happening.
Well, before the majority have reached a consensus on the matter, notorious and well-documented battle rapper, Noble Stylz, jumped in with an untamed gusto and threw his hat in the ring.
The “Chana Chidokosa” spitter did not only challenge Mudiwa Hood and his long-time rival Stunner but also gave both an option to add up three more rappers of their choice, making it a five-face-one battle.
“For The Culture,” he wrote, ”Let’s kick a 5 ON 1 Live Rap Battle an ACTUAL RAP BATTLE during this Lockdown pitting MYSELF vs @stunnerzim, @MudiwaHood and 3 rappers OF THEIR CHOICE (5men team).”
To make it worth the effort, the Prince of Pun said that there will a grand cash prize and the winner will take it all.
Meanwhile, Mudiwa has responded to Noble Stlyz, reasoning that why the initiative was great, it’s not what he had in mind.
“Considering we aren’t going to be doing shows, Marketing our music, songs to sell online should always be a priority.
That’s why I said songs battle. Rap battles are fun but no one is going to go buy music online after hearing a freestlyle, as u know i am commercial and we need to market our songs and zimhiphip…songs battle am in, rap freestyle wat wat…i am too broke to have time for that I NEED MONEY ma gents…let pple know our songs and buy(sic),” Mudiwa said.
As well, while not directly acknowledging the challenge, Stunner tweeted that he was no longer into “silly stunts” that rappers do to get followers. He said he would rather get the prize upfront and then he will show up.
From the looks of it and as it stands now, whether any of these battles will ever see the camera is still up in the air.
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