MiZee — Vibe Slow EP, A Review

With so many rappers here and internationally ready to become the number one trap star it will take a lot to stand out. The rainbow-coloured, spaghetti haired, heavily tattooed and dabbing bunch is the new wave. To come out from that and stand head above shoulders you absolutely have to inject more than just clever euphemisms for fellatio and loosely worded club bangers.

Music has changed. A look at the 2016 XXL Freshmen list would illustrate this. If you are someone who treasures lyrics you would have a permanent Michael Jordan crying face. The fact that we at least had a Dave East to counter the Uzi Verts there was a saving grace but the roster speaks of the times. Kids want to dab and listen to “verses” from individuals who aren’t old enough or necessarily have the street muscle to catch the apparent felonies they claim to commit under the guise of being “bout that life.” But I digress, rappers have always been actors.

SIDENOTE: MiZee tackles the fakes well in “Fakebook,” also in this EP.

You might ask why I’m comparing Botswana with the rest of the world, well the reason is simple; we made it this way. Back when we had only 3 genres ruling the airwaves i.e. traditional music, Rhumba/Kwassa-Kwassa and gospel, it was easy to discern where who we were in the regional or even global landscape. Giants such as DJ Sid and Eric Ramco came in and diversified the game their own Hip Hop acts –and other genres I might add — to add to the gumbo. The new class of Batswana music makers delivers a quality of music that is at par, or higher, than international standards and we are consequently forced to rank these products with the same measuring stick regardless of geographical location. A look at how rapidly music is churned out suggests that this global-scale competition of is alive and well.

SIDENOTE: Read about Eric Ramco and his ascent with 3rd Mind rap crew HERE

In Botswana the Trap wave hasn’t missed us and the allure of instant recognition by tapping the trap sounds coupled with staccato raps backed with a cacophony of ridiculous AND funny adlibs makes for swell entertainment. An artist like MiZee has to do the most -and that is a topshelf literary device, beloved- to get ahead. Luckily he has a whole camp behind him in the form of Bang! Gae, one of the most hardworking labels in the country. Where Eric Ramco left a void, Bang! Gae, though a few years late, contorted and slotted itself in by building a roster of entertainers, Wu Tang’ing the game and using that momentum to push out every single one of their ilk in the 10+ strong camp. A string of awards and chart toppers later, the one picked to shine next is MiZee. The Vibe Slow EP is his introduction.

I can’t say too much about it because I lost my wig to only 3 out of 8 of the songs while the rest carried the vibe. Most of the features, save for Ban-T, come from the Bang! Gae camp which is a cool thing because it shows that the boys are self-sufficient. The worst setup is having the hottest song as the opener for a project. From there expectations are set so high that a slight trough is unacceptable. Feeling Me did this for the EP and to paraphrase the Snapchat demi-god, the win-collector DJ Khaled, Mizee played himself.

These Haters featuring the kid on everyone’s lips Ban T is another thing all-together. I find it extremely weird that someone who is relatively unknown outside of their own circle -a select number- would, at his first major outing, take time to address non-supporters. Like the legendary Tony Robbins would tell you, the love far outshines the trash talk. A debut is ideally supposed to introduce the artist and present his worldview, lifestyle etc but I’m constantly reminded that we don’t live in an idealistic world so I’ll leave my old man musings to rest. Maybe that makes me another one of these haters, I’ll own it. It’s on the charts so my point is invalid right? Right.

MiZee’s peers no doubt have co-signed his project which is cool because that solidarity has been absent in the game. It’s great to see that the new crop of artists have woken up to the fact that the Lone Wolf “system” of doing things doesn’t yield all that much. Good on them. There’s a launch of the video this weekend so my thoughts might change when I see the performances and crowd reaction. These Haters is a smooth listen that makes it pretty clear that the boys have identified the makings of a hit these days — great melody, rap-sung chorus and less showy bars.

Ok, sharp!