The Voices Behind Music Part 3

“The world has been taught to be scared of him, but the reality is that he is scared of the world because he has none of the tools necessary to cope with it.”
― Trevor Noah, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

Ever heard the term hip-hop hates women, ignored are the effects that music has on the men in our society. Music has sold us the ideology that emotions make us weak, that strength can only be seen through violence or control and never through openness. We chase away the reality of the pressure the media has put on our men. The pressures we as a society have put on them to fit into a box populated by trends but is that the reality we want to keep introducing to the minds of the young men everywhere? A reality where they are forced to be afraid to ask for help, to speak out about what hurts them, to step out of the shame and bridge the gap between fighting to survive it all alone and surviving the world together.

The age adjusted Death Rate is 18.35 per 100,000 of population ranks; making Zimbabwe #20 in the world. The rate of suicide in Zimbabwe in recent months has been steadily going up, an increase experts say might be a reflection of economic hardships and the growing problem of domestic violence.’
While most cases of suicides among women are tied to domestic problems with infidelity being at the top, the increase in suicides by men has been heightened by economic strain and several other social triggers.

The increase in the number of suicides in Zimbabwe shows that economic problems affect more than people’s wallets. It is increasingly becoming an issue that is triggering a lot of psychological problems leading to violence and suicides.
Although police could not give an accurate figure on people committing suicide saying the problem was not criminal, the chief police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said there has been an increase in the number of people who are committing suicide.

It is also estimated that 60% of the youth are on illicit drugs in Zimbabwe. The Vocie of America (VOA) Africa, in 2015 estimated the unofficial number of addicts in Zimbabwe to be between a million and 1.2 million countrywide. There are a number of reasons that are leading to an increase in the uptake of drugs among the youths. peer pressure, rigorous training and stress from high unemployment or broken families, emotional and physical abuse are some of the common drivers of drug abuse but is our music contributing to this country-wide phenomenon.

Preaching that it is cool to be black but when did the epitome of black hood and black man become drug use and abuse.



Joyner Lucas in his song, I’m not racist talks about the black man stereotype that we have all bought into. With lyrics like, ‘Screamin' "Black Lives Matter" All the black guys rather be deadbeats than pay your bills’ and ‘You motherfuckas needa get your damn priorities straight, Wait, it's like you're proud to be fake. But you lazy as fuck and you'd rather sell drugs, Than get a job and be straight, and then you turn around and complain, About the poverty rate? Fuck outta my face!’

He shows a point of view that many of us are afraid to own up to or admit to ourselves for we have grown comfortable in our plight, comfortable in an image that was never our own.



Karma in the Htown-blues cypher ft Terry Shan and Griffin talks about being the dreamers, the underachievers and talks about the hate breed by the media with lyrics like, ‘while we over here thinking they hate us, they over thinking that we hate them’ whilst Terry Shan talks about emotional madness being his gateway drug and Griffin rapping in his native tongue talks about everytime that we build there will always be people who will come to destroy.

This song speaks of our struggle but how long will we let our image be tarnished and controlled by messages that are only seeking to destroy us.
The above research only just hints at the growing problem that these social issues present to our country and the generation that is fighting to prevail despite them and changes have to be made. It is time that we stop standing silent and we take a step forward providing the people with a voice and proving to the country and the world that we are more than just a generation of thugs.

If you missed the voices behind music part 1 find it here

The voices behind music part 2

What are some of the other songs that you know that speak of this struggle?

And what’s your take on the new generation, struggling or lazy? And what do you think can be done to build our nation and make the dream a reality?

Send your music links via email if you believe that you have a unique voice that deserves to be heard and stand a chance to be featured: a.marufu52@gmail.com

The Voices Behind Music Part 2

'Sometimes pain renders you speechless' (unknown)



Our birth right, our culture, has been stolen and molded by our unrighteous need to fit in, to please, to conform. Our voices that once stood for truth, spoke of the struggle, the love and the hate now only speak of chains and bottles. Meaningless artifacts made up of broken homes and tarnished hearts. Mumble rap! Once were music was the heart, our pride, our joy and even our struggle, Now with every tune, new words, we've truly grown immune to the crippling damage our silence and more than that our pretense of normality has on a society that has brought death upon itself, since the beginning of time. Switch on the news and you see that the battle is ongoing, there's no sign of peace, and there's truly no sign of hope, With bullet holes bought from social media and social fame bought with soul freedom, we are young people fighting wars with our words born within the thin veiled need to follow trends and become the next great artist, made famous simply by being alive, we've forgotten that music is our voice, our culture and if we do not speak to the next generation about the truth, the hard work required to stay alive then we are being silent killers of the culture that raised us.

Hip-Hop isn't just music; it is also a spiritual movement of the blacks! You can't just call Hip-Hop a trend! (Lauren Hill)

Hip-hop is the streets. Hip-hop is a couple of elements that it comes from back in the days... that feel of music with urgency that speaks to you. It speaks to your livelihood and it's not compromised. It's blunt. It's raw, straight off the street - from the beat to the voice to the words. (Nas)

Hip-hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal. It's a platform where we could offer information, but it's also an escape. (Busta Rhymes)

I don't dislike rappers or hip-hop or people who like it. I went to the Def Jam tour in Manchester in the '80s when rap was inspirational. Public Enemy were awesome. But it's all about status and bling now, and it doesn't say anything to me. (Noel Gallagher)

Music has always been an integral part of human culture and youth consume more music that any other modern age category. Thus music may be considered a primary cultural influence in the lives of youth. Hip Hop/Rap music is amongst the most popular genres of music consumed by adolescents in Africa and throughout the world. So my challenge to you as an artist is this, what is your music teaching our future generations? What voice or spirit are you putting out into the world?



Mushando by Kaotic ft Mussa Effect is a great example of a song that still speaks to our voice as people, as Zimbabwe and as a culture.

This is said in the intro of the song, ‘It's something that is so close to my heart, seeing my people fly. So I feel like, if, I wanna see you fly, I gotta give you a reason to fly’

He goes on to talk about ‘Victory from oppression was always the pushing factor
When they push you to the limit don't you let them push you further
They were sleeping on your intellectual ability to influence this mass meeting
Coz you never stopped believing in this generation
Black and proud I embrace it with greatness’

This is definitely one song I would recommend that you have a listen to at least once.

If you missed the voices behind music part 1 find it here

What are some of the other songs that you know that speak of this struggle?

And what’s your take on the new generation, struggling or lazy? And what do you think can be done to build our nation and make the dream a reality?

Send your music links via email if you believe that you have a unique voice that deserves to be heard and stand a chance to be featured: a.marufu52@gmail.com

The Voices Behind Music: Part 1

'Alive in a generation that's dying of thirst, surviving on medication and buying it first' (Griffin)

We were raised by the beat the melodious rhymes that just demanded to be heard. The sensuous vibes that continuously threaten to invade us. See music to our generation isn’t simply music; music is our lifeline, our voice. Music is what keeps us going because beyond the living battle of being alive in a generation doomed to live the existence of an economically unstable world, music is the dream we’ve been sold.  We live in the generation doomed by its own so-called freedom because see the truth is we are young people fighting wars with our souls, with degrees and so-called certifications but no jobs to chase the paper.

‘They have a house. They’ve sent him to a decent school; maybe he’s even matriculated. He has been given more potential, but he has not been given more opportunity. He has been given an awareness of the world that is out there, but he has not been given the means to reach it.

What happens to a lot of guys is they finish high school and they can’t afford university, and even little retail jobs can be hard to come by when you’re from the hood and you look and talk a certain way. So, for many young men in South Africa’s townships, freedom looks like this: Every morning they wake up, maybe their parents go to work or maybe not. Then they go outside and chill on the corner the whole day, talking shit. They’re free, they’ve been taught how to fish, but no one will give them a fishing rod.’ (“The Cheese Boys.” Born a Crime Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah, W F Howes, 2017.)

So what do some of these musical voices have to say about this generational curse?

House Of Stone by Mile, This short interlude off of his profoundly emotional and lyrical album; Trading Hours, talks about the hidden pain we feel as a nation and as a generation talking about the flag and our pride as a nation but also the reason behind making music,'Beat our chest like it’s drums here in the thick of the jungle, Pounding feet on the floor - they forced the fists of the humble The world’s confusing all the silence here with peace in the struggle.' ‘In the streets, this pain we keep finally hits back And now spitting these verses is the only we way spit back’

Stay Winning by Zimrich (Yung Zee and Ruddy) starts by talking about the dream directly, ‘Success be the drug, that I’m into.’

This song uses a unique way to explain the dream we have all been raised to chase. Straying away from many of the cliché prose and new age rapper tendencies of telling us that they have already achieved this dream, but talking about the journey in a way that is both relatable and still entertaining.

Trapped by King Avry ft Rae Lyric; at first glance it almost seems as if this is a love song but King Avry uses a truly lyrical and poetic metaphoric tone of describing the feeling of being quite literally trapped by the industry, with statements like, ‘The pleasure that you give got me feeling important, guess I sold it all for a performance.’ And ‘you feed me fantasies, you are addictive, I cannot resist you the devil, I put it on that 9 to 5, pledged 25-life, feel immortalized till the day I die.’

This song held together by the amazing poetry at the end by Rae is a statement of its own of the struggles that we all face and the needs to not only speak from the heart but imagine a world where we can truly keep the dream alive.

What are some of the other songs that you know that speak of this struggle?

And what’s your take on the new generation, struggling or lazy? And what do you think can be done to build our nation and make the dream a reality?

Send your links via email to stand a chance to be featured: a.marufu52@gmail.com

Comment below to be a part of the conversation. Full lyrics for Miles house of stone can be found here: https://genius.com/Mile-house-of-stone-interlude-lyrics

The voices behind music part 2