Zimdancehall which is dancehall music from Zimbabwe which was started in the late 80's with the rising up of local sound systems like A1 Sound, Startime sound which exposed mic chanters like Culture T, Allan Ranks, and Dudz who rode on riddims imitating their Jamaican icons at the same time creating their own style. In the 90s as dancehall took over with artists like Tiger, Shabba Supercat, Ninja, Papa San and a new crop of MCs began to emerge with the likes of Major E,Rassie Ai,Booker T,Smylie, Potato,Yappie Banton,Daddy Distress,Kuda Culture(brother to Culture T) dominating the sound systems. Startime Supa Power were the first sound system to push most of these artists to record their songs, starting first with dub plates the most popular being 'Sounds of the 90's by Major E & Booker T on Hypocrite Riddim instrumental side of Daddy Freddie & Micheal Prophet song with the same title and Rassie Ai ft Booker T 'Svinurai/Vanofarira Startime' on the Pepperseed Riddim. The popularity of these recordings led to more studio recordings with Major E & Booker T releasing a 7" vinyl single of 'Sound of the 90's', Yappie Banton releasing 'Memories' and 'Water ina mi room'. The biggest achievement was by Culture T with the band Transit Crew releasing top selling albums and toured Europe. By the end of the 90s, a number of local youths were recording singles and albums independently and reggae bands like Cruxial Mix (Trevor Hall) & Black Roots holding regular weekly shows to showcase various artists like Potato, Daddy Ray, Ijah son, Jnr Banton, Slaggy Yout, Bobo Markos, Desert Eagle, Sanchez and more.The genre was always casted as a copy cat of Jamaican culture and way of life so it was never taken seriously and recording studios shunned it saying it does not appeal or sell. It was not until the emergence of independent studios and the arrival of urban grooves in 2001 that opened up the doors for many artists with the release of many various artists albums like 'the future' 'Chamhembe','Chigutiro' which paved the way for artists like Trinta and Sniper Storm. Sniper Storm went on to release the album 'Ndakabata Mic' in 2004 a hardcore dancehall album. What really separated this album from its predessors was the fact that all its lyrics were in Shona and not English/Patios which proved really popular with the people creating a new direction for the genre.

2005 saw the rise of Winky D -arguably the most decorated artist in the genre- who released hit track after track under the label Black Lab Records who were most probably the first dancehall influenced label in Zimbabwe. The label also went on to release the first riddim compilation albums in Zimbabwe with the Luckspin and Awareness riddims. These riddims introduced artists like King Labash and also put Daddy Distress back in the fold but all this time it was trading under various names like Urban Grooves and Dancehall. It was not until 2006 that another artist Slaggy Yout who was now based in the UK renamed it to Zimdancehall after creating the first website dedicated to promoting the genre.[2] This was the start of the movement and it was a period when Zimbabwe was going through a rough time with political and economic sanctions and most artists could not afford or gain access to the internet.[3] In light of this, another artist based in Zimbabwe Mad Fisher had to personally collect tracks from artists and post them to the UK or upload in internet cafes with funding from the website. The website popularized the Zimdancehall genre as at that time none of the artists were getting any airplay whatsoever and promoters did not even bother to book and market the artists. It was individual promoters like Godfatha Templeman, Simmad and Silverstone Sound who arranged shows in the Ghetto. At the present moment, it has taken over the country and the region to a certain level with present chanters like Sniper Storm, Winky D, LXG, Di Topololo, Quonfused, Seh Calaz, Soul Jahlove and others.


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