By Takudzwa Kadzura
The hip hop phenomenon remains a powerful instrumentation of
suppressed feelings, thoughts, and images. Hip hop exposes the truth because it
is a game that has no limits yet sensitive. It is always exceptional lyricism
that creates a relationship between the artist and the listeners. Kenny
Mandebvu has more in his heart outweighing poetry and rhythm. He is like that
brother who has a lot to regret but much more to make right.
He has experienced bitterly, both sides of the extremes and his is a life misdirected by modern day pressures. One needs to admit the demise of moral authority in modern society and the results of misgoverned social migration of the people from tradition to borrowed phenomena, Western that is.
Kenny belongs to a generation who witnessed the transition
of a society from its homegrown values to a disastrous and desperate scramble
for elitism. In the song Maybe You Should Know he plays brother and
remorsefully raps his regrets out – rega ndikutipe mpfana wangu. Then,
he starts painting pictures of what his childhood (and teen hood formative years)
and in this way he manages to bring on table what an inexperienced kid would
yearn for. In the early stages of high school, it is a relatable experience
that we had those fantasies about a celebrity life and perhaps having the best
girl/boy – those vibes. Not forgetting the booze and drugs which have devoured
lives with great potential. Then it happened so fast kunge takakwira chiGo
fast…panga pasisina mafans.
Real name Tawanda Musodza, Kenny Mandebvu is a hip-hop
artist from Avondale West in Harare, Zimbabwe. He has performed at the Intwasa Festival
in Bulawayo, the Harare International Food & Music Festival, Madzimambo
Winter Festival, Harare Carnival After Party and many other events at Chinhoyi
University of Technology. He has also appeared in the ZBC soap Wenera as Mukoma
Kenny and ‘Cook Off’ (Brickhill, 2017).
Asked about the track Zvinogadzirisika, Kenny
Mandebvu had this to say, “It was driven by personal experience and then I
incorporated observations in writing it. It’s not entirely about me but just a
collective of what life can be growing up without parents, from my
perspective”. Zvinogadzirisika is a tough revelation of touching truths in the lives
of those who share the same predicament. He outlines victimization of children
who are raised under the guardianship of stepmothers. One however has to
acknowledge the existence of kind stepmothers but in more than half the
circumstances being an orphan at a young age is not an ideal zone according to
this rapper – kurerwa nestep moms is not an ideal zone unenge
uchingotaurirwa pasi sevanokuona neDrone.
Mandebvu advocates for self-control and urges men to take
responsibility when they mess up. The majority of abuse cases today emanate
from a broken upbringing where family is disintegrated and unconcerned by
ordeals that are lining up for motherless children, forming a vicious cycle –
kuzoti girlchild angarambe here boss akasangana nembinga inomuendesa kuFalls?
He bravely justifies slay queens and his perspective is fueled by his own
realities of easily getting carried away when your dreams are presented to you
by an outsider. Not just an outsider but a manipulative monster who robs a
future because he is stepping on gold.
The name Kenny Mandebvu originated from the Wenera TV
series. “I had a song called Kenny Mandebvu which was a celebration of beard
culture. And then from the series I was branded as Kenny Mandebvu”. This was an
explanation to distance him from the other Kenny Mandebvu’s we hear in Killer T’s
music.
He further revealed, “I am going to drop a mixtape in the first quarter of 2021, soon after completing my studies in January. The project title is Validation and I will be talking about my journey to the point of release, my challenges and lessons learnt from the whole experience.”
Kenny is burning to explore more into societal issues that
we ignore on a daily basis but have catastrophic ramifications in the future.
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