Prince Kaybee Criticises Zimbabwean Music’s Struggle for Global Reach

Prince Kaybee Criticises Zimbabwean Music’s Struggle for Global Reach

  • Prince Kaybee recently weighed in on Zimbabwean music and why it struggles to grow outside the country
  • He revealed that, in his analysis, certain genres' inability to be exported can be blamed on the sonics
  • His argument was widely supported by social media users who finally understood why Zim music struggled for global reach
Prince Kaybee spoke about why Zimbabwean music struggles
Prince Kaybee addressed Zim Dancehall's inability to grow outside of the country. Images: princekaybee_sa
Source: Instagram

Prince Kaybee got real about why Zimbabwean music, specifically Zim Dancehall, tends to struggle to reach the global music market.

Prince Kaybee comments on Zim Dancehall

Prince Kaybee never fails to get his social media followers thinking about whatever topic he's discussing, from health tips to his opinions on music.

Hopping into an argument about the Zimbabwean music space, led by Twitter (X) user tabanimcgucci, Kaybee went in-depth about why the country tends to battle with reaching the global music market.

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Tabani complained about Zim Dancehall's struggle to go abroad, saying even growing a market in South Africa was challenging:

"While SA artists are making money from Zimbabwe, our music is mediocre and carries no export value. When Zim artists go abroad, they go there to play for Zimbabweans; that's how mid our music is."
Prince Kaybee addressed the issues with Zimbabwean music
Prince Kaybee says Zim Dancehall is too layered to translate to the global market. Image: princekaybee_sa
Source: Instagram

Responding to the chat, the Charlotte hitmaker said the problem wasn't the quality of the music:

"Its core inability to be exported isn’t a quality issue because you guys have world-class engineers and songwriting.

He went on to state that the main issue was the sonics, which add to Zim's battle to break through in South Africa and abroad:

The issue is the type of sonics that have been consistent throughout the years, which is Zim Dancehall. It's a very small genre that is a subgenre in and of itself, it is too layered to be commercially feasible in South Africa."

Here's how social media received Prince Kaybee's argument

Netizens supported Prince Kaybee's chat and praised him for being informative:

Mncedisi_mengu said:

"You nailed it. Almost everything made here will still have that Zim Dancehall texture, even the Zim hiphop."

symplecs wrote:

"No truer word could be spoken. At the same time, it’s a numbers game. Our population is small, and the ones who can even support the art on online platforms are way smaller."
Fans supported Prince Kaybee's take on Zimbabwean music
Mzansi said Prince Kaybee's opinion about Zimbabwean music was spot on. Image: princekaybee_sa
Source: Instagram

treyncube agreed:

"You nailed it. Zimdancehall dominated locally for years but lacked global crossover appeal. Sonically, it's tied too closely to Jamaican dancehall, it lacked its own unique identity. Too many artists, similar styles, not enough evolution. The sound plateaued instead of progressing."

M_A_N_O_27 added:

"Where is the lie? Trying to go international without an original sound is hard. We will eventually get there."

ted_pops praised Prince Kaybee:

"One thing about Kabelo, when it comes to music, the actual theoretical part of music, the nuts and bolts that make the music that we consume come together, this man knows his stuff."

Prince Kaybee shows love to Samthing Soweto

In more Prince Kaybee updates, Briefly News shared the producer/ DJ's comment showing love to Samthing Soweto.

He played on the viral drama with Cassper Nyovest and Sol Phenduka, and adopted the name Sol gave Mufasa.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Moroba Moroeng avatar

Moroba Moroeng (Entertainment editor) Moroba Moroeng is an entertainment writer at Briefly News and a University of Johannesburg alumni (Public Relations and Communications, 2018). She was the content manager and, later, editor for HipHop Africa, where she honed her proofreading, leadership, and content management skills. Having begun her career as a content writer for Slikour OnLife, Moroba has over four years of experience as a writer specialising in music journalism and entertainment. She joined Briefly News in 2023 and passed a set of training courses by the Google News Initiative. Email: moroba.moroeng@briefly.co.za