Dear Zubz!

[Anthony]

It is i once again,the ogre from your past. I write this with an inquisitive tone.


Several issues have come to my attention. A few,not two, fellow Zimbabwean MCs have voiced their concern over the treatment they got from you while sojourning the treks of Muzansi. Appalled by your indifference they have informed me of their anxiety. Never the one to mince his words i decided to ask and verify. Which brings me to the 2nd issue. Last year i came to witness your 'performance' at the Harare International Festival of the Arts and possibly battle you in front of your fans. NB: i was born ready. I informed a close a**ociate of yours to tell you i was waiting like a saber tooth tiger toying with his prey. To be more specific i was in the front row. For those who might doubt my words, a certain South African female MC, a couple of Zim MCs and producers can attest to this actual event i'm documenting occurring. I am confident you were informed of this because you ,uhmm,disappeared. Out of respect for the 'work' you've put into African hip hop i decided to confront you before i perform the effortless task of dismantling your efforts. By the way did Tate tell you i had put up a couple thousand rands as a bet that i'd beat you in a freestyle battle? Anyway, before i ramble issue 3.Tate came with the noble idea of a friendly spar between us in the spirit of hip hop.   http://www.africasgateway.com/forums/index.php?topic=9726.0  (so contrary to unanimous blog philosophy i didn't start this,it just peeled the scab of an old wound) For the 2nd time you backed down. The 1st was when the Lost Boys came to Zimbabwe (1998). You might act nostalgic but your former group-members, now DKR, remember me vividly (remember the 1st to qualify before Kataclysm?). Anyway, don't say i never tried. I hope this time you explain things cuz lyrically it's about to get ugly. It's not a threat nor a promise, it's the inevitable. On behalf of Zimbabwean hip-hop may you please credibly justify yourself. Oh that's right, you divorced yourself from Zimbabwe. Tate, you can't talk me out of it this time.

[RearrangedReality]

How about you battle with an album? if you already have one, tell me where to get it.

[the panic!]

whats the big deal with Zubz and Zimbabwe, anyway? isnt he Zambian?

anyhoo, this is further proof that the "beat rapist", "biter's wetdream", and "rap penis" with the elementary rhyme scheme and international-school accent is. . .well, not that good.

interesting shit though, Munetsi. i await with eager eyes and - lets cross fingers and hope - ears.

[Msanii_XL]

This cat and that Eminem song go hand in hand...oh so stannish.

Pretty obsessive if you ask me.

[the panic!]

i dont know man. . .it could be the most interesting thing to happen to dudes career.

[sero147]

iz zubz eva on these here forums 

[TATEguru v.2K9]

Co-sign Msanii. mUnetsi is immensely talented but this is bordering on 'Stannery' (since 1998 homie???)

Oh that's right, you divorced yourself from Zimbabwe.

^^^hasn't heard Heartless Remix or Batanai a tale of 2 Cities:

"13 - Batanai - A Tale of Two Cities
Peace,
Last night I was at an incredible event at the Ba**line in Newtown and saw it packed out with warm people. I haven't felt a show vibe and enery like that for a while, and it was so refreshing to feel all the solidarity among us manifest in that space.

The musical line up was dope, no doubt. But what sold it for me was the afrocentricity of the event. The diversity of sound repped on the stage, the different listeners' demographic in the audience, all were a clear symbol of what it means to be African.

I hardly ever feel like I truly belong any particular place on the continent, generally I'm on some 'the whole region is my home' type tip. But last night, in the Ba**line, I was home...

My song, Batanai, speaks of the City Of Stone (Harare) and the City Of Gold (Jozi) and how I exist in spaces somewhere in between. After last night, those spaces have shrunk. Truly. These are Blessed times.

13 - Batanai - A Tale of Two Cities feat Chi

VERSE 1
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Picture this versatile MC trapped in a verse of lines
Complex combinations; Blessing and Curse combined
No words define the depth of how it hurt sometimes
It was sort of living in two cities opposed
On some ice capped poles s**t;
Couldn’t really have chosen between the two; omnipresent
Like the dream when you travel to far places into cities you ain’t been into
The first, behind pearl gates and Gold pavements
The second, was made of Stone with century old basements
I lived in the first, my family in the second
Both cities close to my heart with plenty invested in the First
It gave birth to my work destined
Immersed in the firm earth of my birth setting
I set the standard, many interpreted as gallant
But all it was, was understanding the delicate balance
Of two cities

CHORUS – Chi
Nyango ndiri Jo’burg kuMari Muka
Kana Harare, ndotandara
Kwese kumusha, eh
Kwese kumusha, wo
Nyango ndiri Jozi kumushando
Kana Harare, nemhuri
Kwese kumusha, eh
Ngatibatane

VERSE 2
Many years in city one I spent shaping a future
Through trials and tribulations I’d escape in the music
City 2 went through some changes and due to
Unexplainable views too strange and confusing to deduce things
City 2’s inhabitants were dying
I felt like Morpheus while my family was out in Zion
Plugging in and out the Matrix and meeting The Oracle
I made an awesome album hailed by many as historical
But horoscopes lie and heroes eventually die
And for all my trying and my aspiring
City 1’s reliance on Gold paved streets
Had me wishing daily for those old basements
So for no day since, has my mind left this city
Every emotion wells in me now, except for pity
So as time unravels what only time conceals
I find I yield to the rhymes that build
These two cities…

CHORUS – Chi
Nyango ndiri Jo’burg kuMari Muka
Kana Harare, ndotandara
Kwese kumusha, wo
Kwese kumusha, o
Nyango ndiri Jozi kumushando
Kana kuHarare, nemhuri yangu
Kwese kumusha, woNgatibatane

BRIDGE
Ah-yeh-ahMose mose, batanaiMose mose, batanai
X2

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

CHORUS – Chi
Nyango ndiri Jo’burg kuMari Muka
Kana Harare, ndotandara
Kwese kumusha, heh
Kwese kumusha, baba
Nyango ndiri Jozi kumushando
Kana Harare, nemhuri yangu
Kwese kumusha, o
Kwese kumusha…
…baba kani.. "

[Msanii_XL]

i dont know man. . .it could be the most interesting thing to happen to dudes career.

who zubz or munetsi?

You could say beating zubz would be a career highlight which quite sad actually...

[the panic!]

believe it or not i meant Zubz. the man lacks fire. he should crush Munetsi and wave his bloodied remains around like a trophy. . .and if not him he should do it to someone else. in the past five years, i dont think this guy has done much of anything outside of blogging about his own albums and giving long-winded answers in interviews.

[Msanii_XL]

Headphone music in parallel world was stellar i don't know what you were listening to....Didn't the nicca just start blogging this year?

which artist battles after being ten years in the game? (No supanat).  Judging by his latest release i think he seems to have outgrown "i'm nicer than you" type of rhymes...

[AMZ CANE]

(which artist battles after being ten years in the game? (No supanat).  Judging by his latest release i think he seems to have outgrown "i'm nicer than you" type of rhymes...)

co sign that one dawg

[the panic!]

i just dont get it. try as i might i just see a bland, mediocre, emcee, and a completely hapless entertainer who survives by pandering trendy, watered-down politics to the "conscious" enclaves whose tenures in hip hop fandom probably began with that one dead prez video, "Hip Hop".

the last time i was excited about this guy was when he began surfacing (nationally) in 2003. "Family of 1" with Hope was a scorcher. hes since never been able to live up to that caliber of writing and execution - and why should he? his fans applaud any and everything he has the gumption to record, be it lukewarm or downright wack. look at those lyrics Tate posted. what the f***? you dont have to be a writer to see how flat and generic those images are. he could be talking about any number of cities in those verses!

a battle at least would be entertaining. . .i know theres someone out there who agrees with me. 

[Msanii_XL]

Soon or later the real feelings were gonna come out.

You said

He lacks fire

which jumped to

bland, mediocre, emcee, and a completely hapless entertainer

I see ya...

Your feelings aside he is not obliged to battle a ninja who has admitted to following him around ...just for a battle.

again which artist battles after being ten years in the game? (No supanat)

[The Angry Hand of God]

Dear Zubz, you still aint wrote or called/
So I'm gonna go on AG and swing around on your balls/
Ride around on your sack and try to get your attention/
Come on man, lets record a track or at least give me a mention/
Next time you're in a studio, simply call out my name/
Or I'll keep following you around and try to dickride on your fame/
(insert more silly Stanisms here_______)

And here_____________________________

[Thornz]

How about you battle with an album? if you already have one, tell me where to get it.

COSIGN...

Zubz works hard - He EARNED his respect through solid releases, n continues to make a significant contribution to African hip hop.

nuff luv n respect 2 munetsi, u dope n all but really, how many albums u got out right now?  Zubz possibly has a rep longer than your career...The way I see it, you're hardly on his radar cuz u aren't making any real moves...Not to take anything away from u cuz i think ur talented,but there are thousands of up n coming artists who'd all love a shot at battlin the man at the top... what makes u so special?

We get it, u went front row at the HICC concert...mybe if u could get backstage next time n quit tryna battle a cat u just paid to watch. We got love for u Mun but c'mon, this growin obseession of yours is not a good look