By Zion Divaris
The name King 98 or his music do not ring a bell to many, except for a few music-heads out there, .Yet, this relatively unknown entity is being spoken of in the same line with one of Africa’s serial hit-makers – Davido.
King 98 and Davido’s collaboration, No Bad Vibes, drops simultaneously on Zimbabwean and Nigerian radio stations tomorrow.
The young rapper, who turns 21 on Tuesday, also features South African rap superstar, Nasty C, on his forthcoming album, Francesca, due for release on April 27 at the HICC in the capital.
King 98, who has just opened a new chapter at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where he is pursuing a degree in Music and Arts, has already shared the stage with Nasty C, Winky D and DJ Silence Dosh both in Zimbabwe and abroad.
The million dollar question is; who the heck is this boy and what spell did he cast on Davido to get a collaboration?
“What happened was that Davido’s personal assistant, Aloma, heard a song I made when I was with Ali Keys my producer. He then insisted that Davido would love the song if he listened to it. So, after Davido heard the song we found ourselves in the studio recording,” said King 98, emphasising that it was the art and nothing else that caught the attention of the Nigerian mega-superstar.
“Davido is a humble person, he invited me to his house in Nigeria and he showed me around Lagos and he wants to push me so that I can be big in Nigeria,” he added.
It is easy, rather tempting to dismiss the young rapper, born as another privileged kid busy playing mahumbwe (kiddy games) with what other people consider to be lifetime professions.
History has shown that Zimbabweans love the rags-to-riches story; the moment one appears to be getting ahead based on their wallet rather than talent or skill, they are immediately cast aside.
Another Dondo, Sam, whose music is a collector’s item, has suffered immeasurably because of this. Sam has three albums that carry great solo tunes with well-thought out lyrics and collaborations with some of Zimbabwe’s finest artistes, but he has struggled to penetrate the local market.
The failure is not because the music is weak, but because of the attitude of the listeners. The risk is that the latest Dondo find could fall into the same trap. Sunday Mail.
