Born Obey Makamure and popularised as Tocky Vibes. He is a Kambuzuma based upcoming artist in the Zimdancehall genre and in Contemporary Music.

After an initial struggle to get a recording deal, Tocky’s talent was eventually spotted and little had he known that this humble beginning would see him shoot to fame. The single ‘Ngoma Dzonaka‘ on the Zimbo Flavour Riddim is one of the songs to set the tempo and start a trail of chart-making hits. Since then, Tocky has established himself as a force to be reckoned with through recording successive hit singles calminating in a singles collection album.

His other hit songs include ‘Batai Homwe‘ warning people to stay alert of those with sticky fingers or risk getting pick pocketed. Amongst other recordings is ‘Mhai‘ which was mainly influenced by his brother in law and produced by Dj Fydale at Mdada Studios. ‘Mhai‘ is an expression of the deepest gratitude to a mother for good upbringing. The song is filled with utterances of assurance to never forget the motherhood challenges.

‘Ndazokundikana‘ translating to ‘I have given in’ is a controversial song about a sister-in-law who lures her husband’s brother into bed and conscience forces him into a confession. He pleads not to be sent to the village. Controversial because such matters are not discussed openly in the Zimbabwean culture as they are considered ‘dirty laundry’ which must never come out in the public.

Tocky Vibes then went on to record other sensational hits like ‘Chii Nemi‘(What’s Wrong With You), ‘Ndini Ndinorira‘(I am the one who gets playtime) . His most recent tunes include ‘Handityi‘ and the inspirational ‘Usakande mapfumo pasi‘ which translates to ‘never give up’.

Tocky Vibes sings about day to day life issues and his lyrics are hard to resist and uplifting. The height of maturity in his lyrics was undisputed in ‘Dziripo Hama‘, a song which creates a somber atmosphere through contemplation of the fate of the departed kindred. He goes deeper in his lyrics to lighten the plight of the dead by highlighting the predicament faced by the living who are still yet to face their death.

Tocky is promising ‘Tocky fans’ of plans to take Tocky music to a wholly new level by establishing a live playing band which will give fans a real spin for their money.

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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