By Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza & Takudzwa Kadzura
With
his stock exponentially surging within the spheres of Zim Hip Hop, Brian Jeck
has fortified his Zim Drill King
status with a new album called Unicorn.
Having forged his niche in the then underrepresented drill sub-genre, Brian
Jeck continues to convincingly expand his discography.
With
the success of Leo Magozz’s smash hit Fire
Emoji – on which Brian Jeck features alongside Bling4 – the overall growth
of Zero53 Music has been remarkably impressive. Brian Jeck, who hails from
Chegutu, has successfully managed to lead a refreshing movement that has
brought limelight on fellow artists including Leo Magozz, Bling4, 9ine 1ne,
Macho, Kumbie, Tikayci Panda, Tha Bees, Washa T Beatz and others.
Brian
Jeck has risen from the obscurities of Zimbabwe’s fiercely competitive music
industry by relentlessly defending his self-proclaimed Zim Drill King status.
It
would be safe to assert that with the new Unicorn
album release, it is now an unwritten consensus that indeed Brian Jeck has
transcended such a self-proclaimed status – he is now the certified Zim Drill King, although this remains
arguable.
Building
on the gradual successes of his two previous projects – ZimDrillKing and
ZimDrillKing Extended (EPs) – Unicorn brings to the fore a Brian
Jeck who is now effortlessly comfortable with his unique sound.
The
new LP is an expansive sound that does not diverge significantly from the
previous ZimDrillKing projects, even though Jeck’s commendable
production skills furnished listeners with ample room for experimental sounds and
new voices.
Other
listeners may dissent with the “unique sound” assertion, but it is pretty much
clear that Brian Jeck presents a captivating sound pattern nonetheless.
In
Unicorn, he creates plentiful time in
addressing the themes that he briefly touched on in previous works such as Depression, Dyirwa Time, MaGeez, and the ZimDrillKing EPs.
What
is clear however is that when it comes to a comparative analysis of LPs and
singles, Brian Jeck commands authoritative quality on LPs. He is on his best on
albums. His execution is thorough and convincing.
The
most exciting listening element of Brian Jeck’s latest 2022 album Unicorn
is that it is laden with a wide range of sounds – he stridently maintains his
signature sound from the ZimDrillKing projects but is never hesitant to
infuse other sonic ranges in the album’s songs.
In
this, he accommodates both his long-time listeners and new ones on equal
footing. And Brian Jeck effectively employs the power of teamwork through the collaborations
scattered throughout the album, giving fellow [underrepresented] rappers a
limelight.
Brian
Jeck’s insistence on being the leader of the drill movement in Zimbabwe is
consistently palpable throughout the album. 19 tracks for a debut album are
nothing short of a complementary work ethic to such a bold stance. He is
adamantly intentional about capitalizing the drill wave.
The
ability to extensively address a variety of subject matters — although the
themes are not as cogent and aesthetically orderly as desired — may provide a bulwark against intense
criticism that will unsurprisingly come.
The
success of this album can be fairly measured by the impact he made in his
hometown of Chegutu where it was launched.
Brian
Jeck carries the story of a multitude of talented artists who, without the
Harare streets, continue stumbling. His success this year overturns that fate.
He
lampoons the city shenanigans of city ‘hustlers trading toes’ for the greens in
the song Life Ma1. Notwithstanding
the idiosyncrasy of that outrageous rumour. Maths, which features Kumbie
and R.Peels, gave the album a solid introductory strength.
The
hustling motif running throughout the album reflects a lethargic national
consciousness in which individualistic material success is the sole determinant
of progress in [urban] life — and rappers are not immune from that. Money
Changer is one of the songs in the album with an unapologetic and hardcore
feel of what raw grind in the streets of an ailing economy is like. Brian Jeck
conveys a message to the youth that empowers them not to let the system
strangulate their potential. The failures of capitalism; even though
drill rap does not possess the capacity for such ideological expositions, and
Jeck is vindicated.
His
competence in providing meaningful lyrics manifests more in songs like Munamato, in which he passionately
hammers on street gospel. The gospel of hard work to reap only what you have
sowed — and here we see Brian Jeck speaking optimism to the scattered hopes of
a generation through spirited religiosity. Probably, showing contrition for the
sins associated with the drill life.
The
album exudes an improved scope regarding Brian Jeck’s song-writing capabilities.
In What You Want and Memories, the
self-proclaimed drill king caters for love-seeking music listeners, resultantly
making Unicorn a wholesome project.
These
songs, though being romantic refreshers for the album, leave much to be desired
as far as showing a poetic yearning for love and vulnerability is concerned;
the drill expression of complex emotions is not adequately proffered.
What
we like nonetheless is Brian Jeck’s gift in providing mellow sounds with a soft
timbre of melodic vocals pointing towards self-introspection. This provides a
balance — the album has loose themes but such a balance ultimately makes it a
good listening experience.
However,
the potential in the album remains a discussion among ardent followers of hip
hop in Zimbabwe.
The
album is of course Brian Jeck’s earnest attempt to create a formidable
celebrity aura that in turn compels listeners to sanctify the self-proclaimed
drill king title, thus making it an official thing. And furthermore, it
provides a satisfactory outlook in relation to youthful moral exhortations
towards maintaining resolute fortitude in the adversities of the grind/hustling.
As exemplified by the track Chigevha.
Because
another factor to consider is how some quarters of the game maintain the
narrative [more of a truism] that Brian Jeck’s sound is a second-hand Pop Smoke
sound. In this, they wrest artistic originality from the rapper, asserting that
he needs to settle for a more original sound. But it remains all arguable. What
Brian Jeck has managed to do is prove his grit and determination to make
everyone shine — the number of collaborations, including one with established
rapper R.Peels, is a clear attestation to his inimitable solidarity with other
rappers.
He
knew his album would be a good platform for others to showcase their skills;
and he flaunts his ability to blend well on different sounds with different artists.
The last track, King of Drill, shows a confident Brian Jeck who is here
to stay in the game.
It
is often the fate for many artists to struggle with promoting their products
especially when it comes to the digital spaces, but one can hazard to say that
the new album is doing fairly well. Unicorn was however starved visual
representation as there are no videos for tracks that would have actually
reached wider audiences. Hopefully, Brian Jeck will do justice to the album by
providing videos for some of its notable songs.
In
full circle, 2022 is for Brian Jeck to celebrate his long-overdue breakthrough,
as well as consolidating his claims in being the front-runner for the popular
drill movement. The year has been good to him.
Unicorn
can safely be mentioned in lists of albums that define new school hip hop
successes in Zimbabwe.
With
the supportive entourage of artists from Chegutu, Kadoma, Kwekwe, and Harare, Brian Jeck’s
contention for kingship in Zim Drill is not to be taken for granted; and, like
a true unicorn, the growth is soon to be boundless.
You can listen to the Unicorn album by Brian Jeck using the following links and leave a comment in dialogue box:
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