Zimdancehall is a subgenre of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

music from

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. The traditional way of message delivery is through

chanting A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes ...

. Zimdancehall became more popular after the fall of the

Urban Grooves Zimbabwean music is heavily reliant on the use of instruments such as the mbira, Ngoma drums and hosho. Their music symbolizes much more than a simple rhythm, as the folk and pop style styled music was used as a symbol of hope for Zimbabweans ...

genre. Popular pioneers of Zimdancehall include

Winky D Winky D (born Wallace Chirumiko,1 February 1983) is a Zimbabwean reggae-dancehall artist, known popularly as "The Big Man" (stylized as "Di Bigman"), and also known as Dancehall Igwe, Gaffa, Ninja President, Proffessor, Extraterrestrial (stylize ...

, Sniper Storm, Daddie Distress, Ras Tavonga (Jah Bless),

Freeman HKD Freeman HKD Boss (born June 22, 1988), born Emegy Slyvester Chizanga, is a Zimdancehall artist who rose to prominence after release of ''Joina City'' single. Early life Freeman HKD was born in Bindura, Mashonaland Central province of Zimbabwe ...

, Lewaz Skattah to mention a few.

History

Zimdancehall started in the late 1980s with the rising up of local sound systems. The popularity of these recordings led to more studio recordings. By the end of the 90s, a number of local youths were recording singles and albums independently and

bands like Cruxial Mix (

Trevor Hall Trevor Hall may refer to: * Trevor Hall (musician), American singer, lyricist and guitarist * ''Trevor Hall'' (album), an album by Trevor Hall * Trevor Hall (rugby league), New Zealand landlord, salesman, and professional rugby league footballer ...

) and Black Roots holding regular weekly shows to showcase artists. The genre was cast as a copycat of

Jamaican culture Jamaican culture consists of the religion, norms, values, and lifestyle that define the people of Jamaica. The culture is mixed, with an ethnically diverse society, stemming from a history of inhabitants beginning with the original inhabitants of ...

and way of life. Recording studios shunned it saying it does not appeal or sell. The emergence of independent studios and the arrival of urban grooves in 2001 opened doors for many artists with the release of

various artists A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

albums. In 2004 a hardcore dancehall album with lyrics in

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

rather than English or

patois ''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or ...

proved popular. 2005 saw a series of hits by

. In 2006, another artist Slaggy Yout based in the UK renamed it to Zimdancehall after creating a website dedicated to the genre. This coincided with

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and

economic sanctions Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they may ...

in Zimbabwe making

internet access Internet access is the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices; and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is sold by Internet ...

affordable for many artists. Tracks were sent by

post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

to the UK or uploaded in internet cafes with funding from the website. Artists weren't getting any airplay and promoters were not booking or marketing them. Individual promoters arranged shows in

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

s. It has become a stronghold of

Zimbabwean music Zimbabwean music is heavily reliant on the use of instruments such as the mbira, Ngoma drums and hosho. Their music symbolizes much more than a simple rhythm, as the folk and pop style styled music was used as a symbol of hope for Zimbabweans ...

attracting listeners of all ages, representing almost 60 per cent of Zimbabwean radio airplay.

Notable Zimdancehall musicians

* Judgement Yard * Killer T * Soul Jah Love *

* Tocky Vibes * Levels Chillspot

References

{{Reggae Zimbabwean music

History

Notable Zimdancehall musicians

See also

References