RayZe’Em rocks Malaysia

then Radio 3, called the Raptivity Session which was hosted by the legendary Hosiah “Hitman” Singende one of the finest DJs to ever come out of our country.
The Raptivity Session was so popular and helped launch one or two rappers’ careers that I know of, and it was a must to be glued to the radio when the session was in programme.
Also besides hearing the freshest tunes from the rap world the Raptivity Session always gave you the latest news in the showbiz world in general and rap in particular.
During one session and I still remember it vividly, The Hitman quoting from The Source Magazine declared that one of the best rappers to dominate the rap waves was gonna come from Zimbabwe.
This came about after The Native Tongue, a United States-based group made up of the Ndlovu siblings made a modest impact on the Indie charts in the States and to an extent shook the world with their hybrid music.
At that time rap was not that mainstream but was rather seen as a notorious and renegade force and so was never given much attention and was featured more on the underground scene, where Native was noticed.
The word about Zimbabwe’s rap prowess was even further solidified by the urban myth that Mr Cheeks – then the frontman of the iconic group The Lost Boys was a Zimbabwean.
The Lost Boys at that time were arguably the most dominant force on the rap world and for them to be associated with Zimbabwe just gave you this “feel-good” feeling.
Cheeks was one of the first major rappers to ever give props to Zimbabwe, and the way he sounded it confused many people to believe he was a local.
Cheeks had a passion about Zimbabwe and always made nice references about this country in his deliveries, to the extent that he was seen as a local.
Nearly, at that same time Metaphysics was leading Peace of Ebony that mega group that was also making big waves here in Zimbabwe, Africa and Europe as well winning awards as well.
Then as I said earlier there was a lot of hype about us Zimbabweans and the Lost Boys themselves, Soul 4 Reel of the Candy rain fame, The Prophets of the City from South Africa, TKZee among others came to Zimbabwe.
As the Hitman had earlier on said, Zimbabwe in terms of rap music was big on the African stage with a large and loyal following and was touted as a country to produce the next rap Phenomenon according to Hitman quoting from the Source Magazine.
In fact, in hindsight I should think Akon the Senegalese should have come after our own gem. Although there isn’t anyone really whom we can say has put the beautiful Zimbabwe flag on the world stage, signs are that we are still on the way.
I can see one or two Zimbos surprising the world by making their names in world music and do us proud as Akon is doing to his native Senegal.
The reason I am saying this is because some Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are making us proud by dominating their adopted countries’ music bases.
During these World Cup cricket matches I met some Asian dudes who made me discover that one of our own is Malaysia’s hottest at the moment when it comes to the Mic.
I was talking to these mates of mine from Malaysia last week, then we started talking about rap and that’s when he told me about this Zimbabwean guy who is causing a storm in that country with his brand of hip-hop.
The guy – RayZe’Em – is one of the best emcees in Malaysia and has rubbed shoulders with some of rap’s royalties like Redman and Methodman on mixtapes as well as one Malaysia’s best rapper Jay-1.
He is one of the most popular and sought after African rappers in Malaysia and has performed at a number of glamour events in that country.
Ray is not a new name to me, as I have known him since he was still in Zim, but I was shocked to hear that he is doing that well in a foreign country.
I still remember Ray from his days in Zimbabwe as part of the Krook Squad that was mainly made up of the cats from the Avenues Area who made some popular underground hip-hop mixtapes.
Together with his brother Ronald Mabika, better known as Tress, and Nigel Dhlamini (BLK) they were the pioneers of the hit “The Circle” at Mannenberg Restaurant.
It was there that the popular hip-hop MC contests, which became the cornerstone of the Circle, were founded.
The Circle was more of a movement where Zimbabwe’s finest MCs, B-Boys, DJs and dancers, converged for battle and performances for exposure and a little price money.
Though there wasn’t much monetary incentives, the contests mainly helped to encourage the awareness and acceptance of the Hip-Hop culture in the Zimbabwean community.
In fact, some of the country’s rappers like the late Kingpin, Upmost, MC Chita used to be part of the Circle during the early years of the decade.
However, Ray was to leave Zimbabwe in early 2008 to pursue his studies in Malaysia, where is he also emceeing and holding shows in that country.
I heard he has been an ever-present figure at popular Kuala Lumpur clubs and featured on the DMC World DJ Championships, Malaysia finals in 2008 though he didn’t win.
That year he dropped his first unofficial single and video titled Krooksta followed by a love single titled “Mo Again”, which were both modest hits in that country.
Currently, he has released his first official single titled “For You” which is available on all leading online stores.
He is also recording his debut album, which is yet to be titled and it features a couple of international artists and producers and is due to hit the streets midway through 2011.
I also hear that Cee Jay Beta of the Mutare fame is also making some waves though small in the United States.
Cee Jay told me this week that he is having a time of his life in the United States where he currently on tour in several cities and hopes to be making local and international tours.
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