In case you hadn’t heard; the Grammy Nominated, Nigerian Hip-Hop Artist Burna Boy is coming to Zimbabwe this April. At first, it was a rumour that left his die-hard Zimbabwean fans anxious. The Ye hitmaker had not yet confirmed the concert despite the constant trolling of fans on Instagram and Twitter. The Twimbo timeline was abuzz with speculation. Who’d open for Oluwa? How much would the tickets be? Where would the concert be held?
See, Zimbabweans had been burnt before; excuse the pun. Many an artist were at one concert or another supposed to perform on one or another of Zimbabwean stages. Tickets would be sold, fans excited until the d-day wherein the artist(s) would be nowhere to be found. A statement with confession-box-like repentance from promoters would be issued. A distancing statement would be swiftly issued by the said international artist who’d deny any association to the event or promoters.
Now Zimbabweans prefer to hear from the horse’s mouth, as they rightly did when at long-last Burna Boy confirmed his performance in the Zimbabwean Capital.
Yes @itsrumbiii 🤣🦍 https://t.co/0tpbCC93rl
— Burna Boy (@burnaboy) January 16, 2020
It was at this point things went left.
Local ain’t sh*t TBH
After Burna Boy’s confirmation, the promoters wasted no time announcing the big show’s line-up. Said line-up lists Jah Prayzah, Winky D, Suluman Chimbetu, Ammara Brown, Enzo Ishall, Tamy Moyo and Asaph as main supporting acts for the April gig. In Zimbabwean standards a fairly heavy line-up. Nevermind we mostly only know the ye-ye-ye and rabrooy song from Burna…I digress.
But; this line-up left nothing short of a sour taste for REAL Burna Boy fans. Most who were not amused to see the genre masala Kayse Connect had prepared. None of the Artist on the list seemed representative of Burna Boy’s actual genre, Hip-Hop.
More specifically, Twimbos threw a hissy fit over the placement of Bulawayo-based rapper Asaph who many claimed wasn’t relevant enough for the line-up. This birthed the #AsaphChallenge; a warming reminder of why the internet isn’t ALL bad. More of that on a different post.
Between tribal lines
Not a few but many trollish Twimbos felt, rather embarrassingly, that because the Concert was taking place in Harare there was some sort of line-up entitlement for Harare-based Rappers.
What a disappoint.
Not a disappointment but just a disappoint, speaking into the inadequacies of such thinking. We’ve since had a number of conversations on here about the tantrums and entitlement of a couple of those who refer to themselves as gate-keepers of the Zim-Hip-Hop fraternity. What we hadn’t realised was that this had infected the fans who now shared the same dare-we-say foolish mentality.
It was, on the other hand, good to see the leaders of the new-school run to the rescue of Asaph who suffered (we used this lightly) the most attack for not being Harare-worthy of this line-up.
North & Samora will never publicly kiss & make-up
Classicism in the Zimbabwean context is very, very real.
Excuse our naivety but what we will forever refer to as the Burna Boy incident is a true testament to this sad, sad fact. If this concert was a response to give the people what they want, the promoters must be bewildered AF. During the rumour mill session also know as Before-Burna ie. BB; up-town social media were clear about where this concert should be and how it ought to be priced; far from the city and high in USD.
Enter the official pricing and of course this divided Salisbury as it was once known into the divisions it was always meant to have. North Jameson and South Jameson; better known as North and South Samora Machel today. Pegged at USD35 for general entry at the VERY accessible Hellenic Sports Club. Thus, this concert is somewhat elitely priced yet mass-market accessible.
Confusing, yet necessary, we guess. So why are the up-town kids screaming bloody murder about stolen iPhones to-be, civil servant salaries, ZAR comparisons, line-ups etc. and the ghetto youths well, are most excited and counting down to Burna Day?
Perhaps North Samora isn’t what it’s pent out to be yo!
All of this is just weird.
Although we may or may not attend this concert it is a sad observation to note that on the interwebs; anything and I mean anything can divide a twimbo timeline and it doesn’t have to be politics. Much like anywhere else, we guess.
But don’t mind us, as you were.
This is just a rant nyana.
