ZimDancehall – a spin on Jamaican reggae with raw, noisy lyrics – was born in 2012 in Mbare, the Zimbabwean capital Harare’s toughest neighbourhood. Almost overnight, it became a sensation – until the regime began tempting its stars with ‘gifts’, leading fans to fear the subversive genre had been coopted.
‘It’s the beat of our identity,’ says Ras Caleb, a popular ZimDancehall artist. Unlike traditional music, ZimDancehall bypasses record labels, spreading via WhatsApp. Blaring out of bars and taxis, the beat has become Zimbabwe’s most popular genre.
