Enzo Ishall ushers Zimbabwe into festive season

By Tonderai Zvimba

Enzo Ishall, the Zimdancehall artiste continues to claim his share in the music industry as he releases more hits.

The singer recently rose to fame after introducing himself to locals with a track ‘Kanjiva’ which has become a must play at any party.

Not only did he give people a track but he also introduced them to the Mbare lifestyle as kanjiva – a dance exclusive to Mbare, was fully captured on the song’s music video and is being imitated by many.

Just like King Monada’s Idibala (falling song), people, regardless of their location, have been hooked as they find themselves wanting to dance to Kanjiva each time it is played.

Before Kanjiva, Enzo Ishall first gained attention from Zimdancehall followers when he jumped onto the Chillspot Riddim “Panomhanya Munhu” in March this year with his song Chiita Kwacho.

Not slowing down, Enzo Ishall released another track ‘Smart rinotangira kutsoka’ which was popularised by the likes of socialite Genius ‘Ginimbi’ Kadungure who shot a video showing off his shoe.

The track speaks of the importance of wearing nice shoes as people, especially men, are judged and addressed by the type of shoe they wear.

Most recently, Enzo Ishall released Next Time, a song whose music video has captured the hearts of many.

The video which features renowned comedian, Comic Pastor, was released on YouTube last week and has already garnered more than 50 000 views.

In the video shot in Mbare, the Comic Pastor, after learning that there is a thief who has stolen an underwear outside, decides to chase after him.

He sadly ends up being stoned on the face by the thief and is the one who now needs to be rescued.

Enzo Ishall who hid in the blankets upon hearing there was a thief, then starts lecturing the Comic Pastor singing: “. . . next time vanhu vakadaidzira mbavha haubude. Dzungu rekuda kunzi wakaipa ndiro rakurovesa nedinha ufunge. Ini kusara mumba handipenge . . .”

After watching the video which ends with Enzo telling Comic Pastor that the underwear he was stoned for was torn, many have encouraged Enzo Ishall to produce more of such works.

It is pleasing to note that Zimdancehall artistes are on top of their game. Many of them are filling up venues without international acts.

What has made this genre standout is that the artistes are original.

At first it was disregarded by the likes of Thomas Mapfumo who was of the opinion that the youngsters were trying too hard to sound like Jamaicans.

They have however proved Mapfumo wrong by localising their music thereby giving legends like Winky D a good run for their money.

The new breed of Zimdancehall artistes is singing about what they go through in the high density suburbs which is always a bonus as it makes it easy for their followers to relate to them.

Enzo Ishall, for example, through tracks like Handirare kuden kwenyu, Kanjiva and Next time is talking about Mbare life.

The videos for the three songs were shot in Mbare and this has put the high density suburb on the map.

Enzo said: “I make music that talks about people who live in the ghetto. In this new song, I speak about something which is common among people who live in the ghetto – stealing of clothes on the washing line.” The Chronicle