Zimbabwean Hip Hop - History

History

There are many Zimbabwean Hip hop acts, in and around the world, with varying degrees of success. The majority of them are heavily influenced by American East Coast hip hop, with the younger ones leaning more toward the new dominant American dirty south sound. On the other hand, there are a few acts that are now trying to move away from the American stereotype and reinvent themselves by building and branching off from the remnants of the "Urban grooves" era . "Urban Grooves" was an umbrella term (for lack of a better word) for all the urban genres of music that were popular in Zimbabwe at the time (Hip hop, R'n'B, Dancehall, Afro pop). The "Urban Grooves" movement and those within have been maturing, and at the same time, the laws have re-integrated International music according to the growth of the Zimbabwean local industry, what where the sub-genres of "Urban grooves" are now developing into whole and independent genres of their own. There seems to exist a visible effort on the part of a lot of current MC's to experiment in order to redefine and own a sound that could be recognised as Zimbabwean Hip hop. Some are doing this by making a more extensive use their own traditional languages (Shona and Ndebele), and local instruments such as Mbira, Marimba, Ngoma (traditional drums) or Hosho (traditional shaker).