The start of dancehall in Zimbabwe which was later to be known as Zimdancehall was somewhat mediocre and the grown ups referred to it as drug use after effects or the common boyz dzepabridge but alas did anyone knew it was going to be the most talked about genre. They wouldn’t have believed that one day Soul Jah Luv was going to sleep in the same hotel that Barrack Obama, American president once slept, that Winky D was going to be pocketing around $30 000 a month.

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The story changed, ghetto youths have managed to fend for their families, buy luxurious cars and travel a few nations all because of Zim-dancehall. Pehaps you might be wondering why? Why (Zim)dancehall has managed to thrive above and beyond many other highly marketed genres like Hip-Hop. There might be more, but here are five reasons why Zimdancehall is the most sought after genre.

Zimdancehall Is Relatable

Hello, this is the most common but seems like the most ignored (among artists) reason why music was made in the first place. Zimdancehall was or is made mostly by youths from the ghetto, and mostly from Mbare, people who were trying to find comfort in music, people who took their everyday plight and put it on to a beat with enough rhymes, their luck came because their everyday plight was almost everybody’s in Zimbabwe. This made the genre more relatable to the masses.

Take people like Killer T for example, Ngoma Ndaimba was an instant hit because of what? Tunes like Chikorobho, Toda Kumbofarawo and Itai Ndione have enough message for a lot of situations, talk of fake people and back stabbers (Itai Ndione), teachings about respect (Chikorobho) probably parents’ favourite, need to have some fun in hard times (Toda Kumbofarawo) in this category you can add Disappear by Winky D.

I could add more but for the sake of keeping this short (people really hate reading these days) I will move on to my next point…

Zimdancehall Is Not Hard To Get

I believe what keeps this genre going is the fact that it is easily shareable. The artists, unlike most artists in other genres have not insisted on hard ways to get their music, if you are not from Zimbabwe it is understandable if you don’t know how hard it is on this side to use iTunes, well not that hard but not as easy as getting it via WhatsApp, no hassle!

What created this viral nature of the genre is probably the use of WhatsApp and other social media platforms to distribute their music, almost 2 thirds (estimates of course!) of Zimbos  WhatsApp groups share Zimdancehall music, I have been in some HipHop groups that even share Zimdancehall music. Bringing me to my next point…

Zimdancehall Utilizes The Moment

Zimdancehall can also be called music for the moment. Tell me any current situation from the past that hasn’t had a note in the rhymeland of dancehall, from misunderstandings with soldiers/gunners, Tokwe Mkosi tragedy, mass topics like Gore Rezvidzidzo, which saw the likes of Seh Calaz utilizing the moments, the recent one being Chihuta which has been trending and already has a riddim and many songs off it.

Why does this make it number one? Because almost everyone wants to hear what you are singing about and because the topic is trending, the song becomes trending and Zimdancehall becomes relevant than other genres.

The Zimdancehall Culture Is Judgeless

In sungura, you have to let your fans know you are taking time and putting your music in order, in Zimdancehall nobody cares, Soul Jah Luv admitted he doesn’t write down his rhymes and still he is one of the top rated artists. To be a star in HipHop you have to be a big bawler, wear expensive cloths, in Zimdancehall the less you have the more the fans appreciate your music making the pool for artists in this genre bigger than other genres.

Why so? How many bawlers do we have in Zimbabwe?? Next….

Promoters and Diaspora Love Zimdancehall

Well since the sub-genre (of the original dancehall) has a huge following promoters love it and Zimbabweans abroad feel like it is the music they can connect to home away from home!

So what then happens, the artists get more shows, make more money and more music…

In summing up let me say, Zimdancehall has managed to come a long way but the journey is far from over, more still needs to be done but thats a story for another day, today tell me what you think or love about the genre in the comment section below…