The Sunday News
Nhlalwenhle Ngwenya, Sunday Life Correspondent
ZIMBABWE-BORN rapper based in Toronto, Canada, Andrew Dube aka King Dube, has final launched his debut album after a series of single tracks on several online platforms.
The debut album Vengeance comes with 15 tracks. The album goes an extra mile narrating King Dube’s life from the streets of Toronto and being a recognisable rapper with the mantle to challenge one of the toughest hip-hop terrains in the world.
Probably being a Zimbabwean based in a foreign land, gave Dube that bird’s eye view of Toronto as he delves deep narrating his life on the street and how it inevitable influenced him to be a rapper he is today.
Despite American East Coast hip-hop and West Coast hip-hop having a major influence on Canadian artistes, Canadian hip-hop incorporates a number of other influences not commonly seen in the mainstream of the American genre, and King Dube adopts a unique mode of storytelling in his offering, as he wittily takes his audience on a captivating journey.
There is nothing more challenging than taking the bull by its horns, especially in King Dube’s case. Tackling social inequalities in a witty commentary manner through his thought-provoking lyrics and the manner he takes with ease to the podium, King Dube naturally blends in on the Canadian hip-hop scene without losing his identity.
Considering that King Dube is based in Toronto where hip-hop stalwarts like Drake come from, it can be a challenge just to inscribe a name in the annals of the hip-hop circles in Canada, but King Dube’s album is set to propel him into bigger circles in Canada if not the world.
“The album only has two features so mainly it’s a solo project. It’s already doing great online, though am yet to make hard copies available. So far the best tracks on the album are Boss young nigga, Heataz, right now and Mean streets,” said King Dube.
Telling his life story on the album, King Dube said that the album was more like a tour vehicle, which he effectively used to take his fans into part of his life they have never been before.
“The album is a testimony of the authentic streets of Canada that I got caught up in. From a young age, I started understanding the streets before I was even a teenager. But I wanted something authentic out of the streets not the usual hustle and so forth. I wanted to make a better living, all this it’s part of the album,” he said.
To a large extent King Dube admits that the streets of Toronto have a huge bearing on his work, a testimony which he talks at length on his track Mean streets.
“The streets influenced everything because I’m honestly still in the streets but I want to leave it alone and focus more on my music. But it’s hard when you got to pay bills,” he said.
Vengeance is available on iTunes, Tidal and other several online platforms for only $10.
