If there’s one Zimbabwean artist who has truly mastered the art of releasing singles, it is Enzo Ishall. The serial hitmaker has managed to continuously dominate the airwaves. Seemingly without ever giving us a full project.
In a year were Zimdancehall has been said to have underperformed, somehow Enzo has remained immune to the genres poor health. He has still managed to have his voice blaring out from countless speakers. But when you listen to his latest release it’s easy to understand why.
So far this year Enzo had given us Ahoyi as his most noteworthy release. But from my first impressions of Iyoyo… it might just push Ahoyi to the back of our minds when we reminisce about his music in 2022.
Iyoyo doesn’t fit the mould of a typical Zimdancehall song. Yet that out of the box sound is something that has made a lot of Enzo’s music standout. Iyoyo is uptempo and it is paired with vibrant lyrics that demand we get up and dance.
Yet good as it is to listen to, to gain a true appreciation of it would be to see it performed live. Iyoyo sees Enzo become a conductor on stage, with the audience his dancing orchestra. The song sees Enzo take the crowd from one direction to the other in dance as he sings “Toenda so, todzokera so…” This transcends into a choreography routine were the crowd has their phones raised with flashes on as the music goes “Flashi mudenga, flashi pasi, flashi uku, flashi uko…”
It is a part of Iyoyo taken right off a page from the international stage and then blended with some Zimbabwean flavour. Burna Boy has himself had a similar crowd control routine during the European leg of his Love, Damini tour. All these elements show how Enzo is always willing to test the waters with something different. These various influences mixed into Iyoyo have made it an instant favourite.
