By Nick Kaoma
Decades ago, upon asked as to what Jazz was, the notoriously temperamental and deeply intense Miles Davis said, “If you have to ask, you’ll never know”.
Of course, the creator of some of the most beautiful jazz music ever recorded could have been polite and simply explained the essence of his beloved music genre, but he figured that if this particular individual didn’t have the faintest idea of what jazz was, then he was simply not paying attention or feeling it, to use parlance preferred by musos.
You see, music is one of those ethereal things in life that you ought to simply feel and subsequently love, without the need for detailed explanations. Which brings us to our interview subject - Zubz is an MC that has built his name on nothing but a solid foundation of lyrical ingenuity and quality music. No gimmicks, No publicity stunts… just pure, unadulterated music baby!
Quincy Jones once asked rhetorically, “What’s the use of music if it can’t stir one’s soul?”
In this over-commercialized world, your favourite artist has no qualms with going on national television and stating that the only reason he’s in the music business is to make money, moola or zaka, as it is called in the streets.
Granted, there’s nothing wrong with making money, God knows we Africans folks need it, but what about the love? What about inspiring us Dear MC? Isn’t money supposed to be the by-product of your passion?
So it is utterly refreshing, that, in the realm of such myopic tendencies, an artist of Zubz’s calibre can still nourish our souls with beautiful music that takes us on journeys to worlds we did not know existed. Some, of course, have sneered at his talents. They say his music is not easy on the ear. Others say his flow is monotonous, while some say he is too deep.
Well read on, and see what the man with the legendary Golden Mic has to say……
Your album has been out for a minute now, but I don’t think that it’s too late to say that you have once gain produced a riveting, quality album. Congratulations bra!! Having released Listener’s Digest two years ago, what was your approach and thought process this time around?
It’s never too late to big anything up! Thanks for that. My approach this time was mad different. I did a concept album this time; one built on a theme. That theme was ‘Travel’. I was doing quite a bit of travelling when I wrote for Headphone Music from Lusaka, Zambia to Oslo, Norway and Helsinki, Finland! I wanted to explore that sensation through the music.
I also wanted to dabble in the journey of the soul as well as a little quantum physics. More than anything, this time around, I crafted a multi-layered body of work which I’m crazy proud of, cos it reps me and my current state of being.
It is clear, from listening to your album, that you and your craft have become better. What is it that you have experienced or gone through in the past 24 months that has enabled you to weave such nuanced lyrical imagery?
More props! Thanks again! Time does tend to bring with it more experiences, which in turn provide the basis for growth. I’ve grown a lot, cos I’ve experienced a lot over the last couple of years. So much Life has happened to me. I’ve re-discovered my love for God, become an uncle, re-engaged my Universe and centred my spirit, toured a European country and reconciled my heart with the spirit of my father.
Between all of this, I’ve learnt what it is to be a musician, a man, an African, a human being and an instant of Godhood. I’ve discovered my Purpose. How am I a better artist for all this? Cos I’m a better Zubz for all this. I’m a lot freer now; more liberated. Headphone Music in a Parallel World is ‘pudding’ of that…
For those who haven’t copped the album yet, can you skool ‘em on the rationale behind the title, Headphone Music in a Parallel World?
For sure…Stay with me on this one, it could get bumpy…We live in a plane of existence that is the melting point of many worlds. Just as there are microscopic organisms flying around everywhere that we cannot see, doesn’t mean they aren’t there, so there are numerous existences happening right now that we cannot easily access.
These existences, the beings in them, what happens there, are all governed by possibility. Our definition of possibility is limited to our understanding of Time, Space and the Space-time Continuum which is the two together. If we shed that limitation, we understand possibility and we glimpse these existences; these worlds running parallel to our own.
I believe the mind and the soul can together allow for physical travel between these worlds. Just like in dreams, when you’re falling and you feel that, physically, or you’re having sex and you…well, live the effects physically.
In much the same way you get some headphones, you close your eyes, play my new album and journey through worlds! Headphone Music in a Parallel World!
You were once again nominated for the contentious SAMA award for the best hip-hop album, how do you feel about not winning it once again [the eventual winner was Flabba for Nkuli vs. Flabba]?
I’m the SAMA Scorsese it’d seem. My career consistency makes it that I’ll always be a ‘firm favourite’. Every time anyone gives you the old pat on the back and says, “Nice one, there, chap…” it feels good.
But it’s about more than that for me now. It’s about the message it sends out to people that relate to the music, how they feel validated for loving it. It’s about that one cat sitting at home watching SABC on SAMA night and going, “This Zubz guy seems to be legit. Why else would they fuss about dude? Let me listen to his record tomorrow at the music store…”
It’s about egos that own keys to doors I wanna unlock saying, “Ey this Zubz dude just won’t stop, neh? There he is again! Let me give him a couple of keys and see where it takes him…” All of which happened again for me this year with the SAMAs. Am I disappointed that I did not win? C’mon. Of course I won! I always win! Plus…we all got the coolest phones and X Boxes over and above that…I’m peace.
On, ‘Baby in the Cradle of the Mic Stand’ one of my favourite joints, you ask your listeners, “Do your remember how it’s like to hear a dope beat/ a fly MC rhyming over it like it is supposed to be/words so clear you don’t have to listen closely, and how the flows be incredible its poetry/Do you remember how your heart beat skipped when you heard, the perfect snare and drum kick for the first time”? Let me pose the same question to you, when did you fall in love with hip-hop? And how did you feel when you heard the perfect snare and drum kick for the first time?
That is a beautiful song right there! We just shot the video for that too! I’m glad you focus on the music a lot. Most journo types (which you clearly aren’t) give the music a back seat in interviews. I’m glad you don’t (Ed: Oh gees thanks Zubz!).
When did I fall in love…I don’t remember the day, artist or song, but I remember the period and the feeling. It was when I was in high school in Harare, form 1, 2. I just couldn’t get lyrics and rhythms out of my head! I’d associate songs with places, people and moments! I could recognise a song with just one hit, a rapper with just one line and a producer with just the snare they used!
Today, I hear some of these early records I fell in love with and I smell the room I heard them in for the first time. I see the dancers we had in school that choreographed steps to the joints on Talent Night. I even recall random people I vaguely knew, but I recall their names…names I haven’t thought of in decades! And surnames too! It’s the most incredible thing…
You and Tumi share mutual respect for each other. You guys often give each other applause in your interviews and CD-sleeve thank you notes. What is it about Tumi that makes him one of your favourite MCees? And does your relationship go beyond music? Please elaborate.
Tumi’s my Kindred spirit in many ways. Like me, he was born in Zambia. Like me, he was raised on Hip Hop and the African Hip Hop Experience which is extremely difficult to explain as it’s so experiential. Like me, he has a special trans-continental bond with his mother. Like me, he has a burden for his people. Like me, he’s all up in his own head and vocally opinionated.
Like me, he’s a perfectionist with his craft…which is what it is, a craft. Like me, he’s unapologetic about all these factors that make him him and make him, well…like me! You see where this is going, right. So it’s no surprise I relate to his work. I enjoy his work. I get it. It’s also no surprise that I spend mad time with him. We have a solid artistic understanding rivalled only by our friendship.
For the record, he, just like me, is in solid relationship with a woman! Just so we’re clear…
You have probably done a hundred shows in your time, which show stands out the most? And the worst?
And I plan on doing a thousand more! It’s difficult to say cos each one’s uniquely special. The Black August gig jumps out immediately as one of my favourites in 2002. That was wicked. No one knew me then, but they still showed me mad love.
The one gig I had in 2006 at the Tavastia in Finland was also murder. The crowd gave us a Triple Encore that night! I don’t have a “worst” show cos I don’t believe in a “bad” show, only challenging ones…and I’ve certainly had my fair share.
Since American shock jock, Don Imus, labelled a woman basketball team as “nappy-headed hoes”, the American media has been firing from all cylinders, trying hard to put the blame on something more concrete than a white celebrity DJ. As always, the attention has turned to hip-hop. Do you think hip-hop is an irresponsible art form? Should words such as ‘nigga’, ‘bitches’ and ‘hoes’ be banned?
My stance on opinion based debates is fairly simple. Nothing should be “banned”. If God gave us the gift of free will, who are we to now decide to limit that on people? Isn’t that the essence of African Liberation struggles? Wasn’t that essentially what cats on June 16 1976 got shot up for?
We cannot condone something that violates our personal codes, but we cannot in the same breath impose our personal codes on others. The trick here is love. All things done in love seem to promote karma. Love promotes a more responsible set of actions. Acid test questions are, was there love in Don’s words? And more importantly, is there love in the response to these words?
As an African, Africanist even, what measures would you implement if you were offered the opportunity to Chair the African Union?
Nice question…Firstly, measures that promote the dissemination of information from the top down, no matter how sensitive. Secondly, measures to teach people to convert information into knowledge. Finally measures to truly empower Africans to transform knowledge into wisdom. That’s where true freedom rests, I think.
Are you happy with the standard of local hip-hop? Where can improvements be made?
I’m not happy, or sad, honestly. I am peace with it though. We all (those of us with a stake in SA Hip Hop, which would be pretty much everyone) need to recognise that there’ll always be room for improvement. This shouldn’t make us feel bleak, but rather inspire us to get up and do more, always with love.
Being the perceptive individual that you are, have you come up with a concept for your third album?
Perceptive is one thing, being a soothsaying seer is another! I don’t know about that right now, no. But it’s been revealed to me what the concept and title of my last album will be…That’s all I’m saying right now!
When you leave this world, what would you like your legacy to be?…I’d like to be played on eternally.
TRIVIA
1. Top 5 Music albums:
Right now:
1 Headphone Music in A Parallel World - Zubz
2 Music From My Good Eye – Tumi
3 Amel Larreaux – Bravebird
4 Coldplay – X and Y
2. Top 5 Films:
Right Now:
1.The Matrix 1, 2 and 3
2.The Godfather 1, 2 and 3
3.Lord of War
4.The Island
5.Lord of The Rings 1, 2, 3
3. Top 5 Songs:
Right Now:
1.Warp Speed – Zubz
2.Baby In a Cradle Of A Mic stand – Zubz
3.Blink Twice – Tumi
4.Breathe – Tumi
5. Speed of Sound – Coldplay
4. Favourite places in the world:
Right Now:
1.My Lounge
2.Lusaka, Zambia
3.Mabelreign, Harare
4.Cape Town (…really.)
5.Space
5. 5 Things that you hate the most:
Right Now: 1. Only one. The space I get into when I hate!
6. Please finish this line: Robert Mugabe is ……
…Enigmatic.
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