Cal_Vin speaks on Zim hip-hop awards ‘snub’

By Bruce Ndlovu

Despite what looked like an apparent snub when his name did not show up in any of the categories when the Zim hip-hop awards were announced, Bulawayo wordsmith Cal_Vin said this was not the case as he did not submit any works for this year’s event.

With the awards ceremony set to be held in Bulawayo for the first time in its history, some would have felt this was a fitting occasion to crown him the king of the city’s hip-hop scene which he has dominated for the past few years.

However, with most hip-hop heavyweights making the nominee roster, Cal_Vin seemed to be a surprise omission as he did not appear anywhere on the list.

The fact that the man who Cal_Vin had a notorious feud with not so long ago, POY, led the list of nominees seemed to rub more salt rubbed into the rapper’s wound.

A veteran of the city’s hip-hop scene, POY was nominated for Best Male Artiste, Best Collaboration for Get out of the way, Best Album for Short cuts to Heaven, Best video for Higher and the People’s Choice award.

The rapper, however, said there was really no bad blood between him and the organisers of the ceremony as he felt that he had not done enough during the course of the year to warrant a nomination.

Contrary to the beliefs of some, the rapper is not taking a leaf from the book of one time collaborator Cassper Nyovest who notoriously refused to submit anything for the South African Music Awards (SAMAs), as he felt that they shortchanged him when it was time to crown the best musicians of the year.

“I didn’t submit because I didn’t do anything this year. I’ve got no personal or bad feelings towards the Zim hip hop awards and there’s nothing negative going on.

“It was me just coming to terms with the fact that I didn’t do anything this year. I just had nothing to submit and that’s why I did not submit,” Cal_Vin said.

The Luveve-bred wordsmith added that members of his Kontrol Tribe label had also not submitted their material for the awards, as they decided to take a sabbatical from this year’s extravaganza with the hope of launching an onslaught on the music industry next year.

“None of them submitted anything because we also just didn’t have a solid thing that we did this year. The album we did just came out so we’re looking at next year not this one. This year felt more like a time to relax for us,” he said.

This year’s awards will be held on December 9 for the first time in Bulawayo with city artistes, Floppy X, Guluva 7 and Naboth Rizla among those nominated. Floppy X is set to go head to head with some of the breakout stars of the year in the Best Newcomer category.

Fellow rapper Guluva 7’s Ngena Ka1 track landed him the Song of the Year and Best Verse award nominations.

Naboth Rizla was nominated for the Best Hip Hop Hustle, Best Promoter and Best Media awards while Chronicle scribe, Bongani Ndlovu, got a nod in the Best Print Journalist category. The Chronicle