At the peak of their finest moment during the urban grooves era, Honey Vibes had two chart-topping songs and an album titled Nguva Refu released between 2008 and 2009. Their tracks Tamari and Ndikuone Nguva Refu remain their biggest hits to date. In 2012 they released a compilation album of their singles Body Guard and the group vanished from the local music scene amid rumors they had split and were pursuing solo careers. Now they’re set on a comeback with a bang!
South African based Fred Madzivanzira aka Trinta best known for his unique elusive fast-paced rhythmic chants said that deplorable economic conditions in the country forced him and close to four million other Zimbabweans to skip the country and find economic refuge in South Africa. Trinta is currently in Zimbabwe.
He said distance could not break up the group which he founded together with his neighbor and childhood friend Norman Jesinawo aka Luscious; both hail from Mufakose, and Gerald ‘Chilla B’ Magwaza from Kuwadzana. He pointed out since their last offering in 2012 the trio has been engaged separately in various solo projects.
2018 heralds the long and much-anticipated return of Honey Vibes as a complete active group on the local music scene. The band so far has recorded with live instruments five out of six tracks they want to release starting early February as part of their comeback effort.
“We have changed and transformed our sound a bit from the previous one we used to have during the urban grooves era before the dawn of Zim Dance Hall. We have incorporated new and modern sounds with an international appeal such as Afro-pop, Afro-soul, Afro-fusion but on a dance hall tip. This is in line with current international trends…We want to put Zimbabwe on the international scene,” said Luscious confidently.
The group stressed that their music is very different from the popular Zimdancehall which they find as repetitive and lacking versatility in terms of lyrics, melodies and execution on vocals. Trinta acknowledged the fact that Zim Dancehall has brought to the fore a number of talented and well-seasoned artists. The singles are being produced by talented and seasoned producer Lazzy T of Big Tingz Records who has worked with a number of artists from across diverse genres who include Sulumani Chimbetu, Ammara Brown and Soul Jah Love among others. The group pointed out that releasing singles one at a time was the most viable strategy at the moment meant to create hype that attracts old fans and new ones in the process.
Luscious further said doing a whole album of eight or more songs had disadvantages in that only one or two songs would eventually get airplay while the rest get discarded. Love, peacebuilding, spirituality and general social commentary define some of the themes they hope to address and convey to audiences in their current singles project.
Song titles include Shamwari, Gona Kubika and Nonstop. The singles were collectively written by the trio who said they’re all involved in the creative aspects of their music. They employ both Shona and English languages in their songs.
Honey Vibes intimated they’re looking forward to working with a number of local artists on a number of collaborations.They are currently trying to engage Winky D, Ammara Brown, Soul Jah Love, Jah Prayzah and XQ. This year the crew is planning to do a regional tour of the SADC region with a live band to further market their music.
By Tapiwa Marume
