The Sunday News
Nhlalwenhle Ngwenya
NOW and then in music circles there is that amusing and almost unbelievable story of how a prominent band came to realise they had what it takes to make it in the music industry.
Not dwelling far from that script, Bulawayo-based youths are slowly but surely bringing their childhood dream of being a recognised hip-hop group to reality.
Simply going by the moniker The Prime Suspects (TPS) the hip-hop trio comprising of Nigel “Cream” Musukutwa, Ndabezinhle “Skate” Madyara and Wayne “Kid Lion” Nzamazi for the past two years have been trying to hit the right notes in the music scene, and they seem to be on the right track.
They have shared the stage with South Africa’s Black Motion, ZimDancehall king — Winky D, and gave a good account of themselves at the Bulawayo Music Carnival in June.
“TPS had a long time dream to make music and entertain childhood friends. Cream and I teamed up with Wayne after all sharing the same vision, and went on to record their first track Ntsharara as Prime Suspects, said the group members Skate.
After getting a positive response from their first track Ntsharara, TPS was encouraged to go back to the studio and produce more material.
“The song got a great response and fuelled the boys’ ambition and they decided to work on more songs together. Last year in June 2015 they released a song that got everybody’s attention titled Dash and went on to shoot a video for it,” said Skate.
The music video has been featured on ZBC on different musical programmes and has over 1 600 views on video sharing site YouTube.
Cream said they give credit to Mlweli Ncube who sponsored them on their first music video.
“He lives in the neighbourhood and through some interactions we had him listen to our music. He liked Dash and asked why we didn’t have a video for it. Then he said we should find out how much it was to produce a music video and he’ll sponsor it,” said Cream.
Other than being in the studio, like most enterprising rappers pushing their hustle, TPS has also ventured into the fashion industry, announcing their presence by launching a clothing label using their name for their branded t-shirts, hoods and snapback caps.
Being full time rappers, TPS realised they have a tall ladder to climb in the hip-hop hierarchy, thus they resorted to focussing more on pushing their label than prioritising monetary gains.
“We aren’t more on the money side of music, but rather we are introducing the group to the people. So that they create a fan base for themselves,” said Kid Lion.
Adding weight to their lyricism, TPS pride themselves on being ambassadors of different suburbs (Paddonhurst and West Somerton) in Bulawayo where they draw inspiration, to weave social commentary lyrics and of course the party mood vibe.
As it is the hip-hop trio is not sitting on their laurels as they are working tirelessly on their debut mix tape titled Vuzoom 2.0 set to drop anytime soon.
