Chronicle Editor
Mthabisi Tshuma, Chronicle Correspondent
DGV Rap Battles are set to roar to life next month with three gigs being lined up for the first quarter of the year.
A Valentine’s Massacre which will be a Ndebele Rap Battles Premier will start off the year on Saturday followed by Marching Orders where Bulawayo rappers take on those from Masvingo on March 5. The first quarter is set to end with Freedom Bars where Bulawayo will go head-on with Harare on April 2.
All the events will be held at the Bulawayo Public Library as from 2 pm.
DGV Rap Battles started in 2013 in Bulawayo as a way to afford talented artistes the opportunity to showcase and grow their skills as battling is a big part of the Hip Hop culture.
DGV Rap Battles co-founder Naboth Rizla who also runs Grapevine Clothing said the event is back with a bang this year.
“DGV Rap Battles is a monthly event that has been running since 2013, but because of Covid-19, we had to reschedule here and there. We hope to continue doing our battles every month from last year,” Rizla said.
He said artistes like Asaph, Mandla the comedian, Luminous, Jilly the Black, Brintz, Spliffah Ray and Siriboy have been part of the battle and have gone on to build their names in Hip Hop.
Rizla went on to say they have more than achieved their goals of providing a platform for artistes and helping them grow their names.
“We’ve managed to take artistes to Intwasa Festival koBulawayo and Shoko Festival plus take them across the border to Botswana where Luminous battled at the Warzone and Lesotho where Jilly the Black battled Kafela at the Dirt Mouth.
“We’ve also done an online battle with Lyrical Wars from Ghana in which Lady Eef from Bulawayo battled Queen Moda from Nigeria. Luminous from Bulawayo represented Zimbabwe also on these online battles when he battled Berch from Ghana Lyrical Wars,” said Rizla.
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