Going down the 2010 memory lane, do you remember “Hey Hey” by Dennis Ferrer? Meet Shingai, the face behind the vocals on SA’s old time favorite house hit.
Following the remix of “War Drums” off her solo debut album “Too Bold“, in this new offering, Shingai collaborates once again with fellow Zimbabwean producer, Verseless on the “No Fear” single.
The song is a chill dance melody with influences of the South African house subgenre, Amapiano.
Listen to “No Fear”here.
The Internationally acclaimed The Noisettes lead songstress who recently enjoyed globally trending on Tik Tok with over 600 million views for the “Never Forget You” trend, has always been unapologetically proud of her roots.”No Fear” lyrics reflect on the bravery of the African heritage and its boldness.
The line “We are the ones they said wouldn’t make it” continues her theme of Pan-Africanism that she explored in her previous album “Too Bold“.
The intriguing paired visuals directed by Joe Njagu were shot in Harare, Bulawayo and Matopos with an entire Zimbabwean crew.
What makes this music video intriguing is the metaphoric art portrayed in it. Zimbabwean collectives CaliGraph, Skeyi, Strobo and Spinx were commissioned to paint a bold and colourful mural on a bus as promotion for Shingai‘s Too Bold album.
The mural on the bus features an appropriated image from her album art; an over the shoulder portrait of Shingai with a plaited and braided hairstyle. At its rear end, the bus features text that proclaims the collaboration. The rest of the body of the bus is covered with patterns used by Zimbabwean native tribes and familiar landscapes of acacia trees, a giraffe, the Birchenough Bridge, the Victoria Falls and a skyline of Harare‘s central business district silhouetted against the horizon. This splendid art that moves, serves Harare and inter-city commuters. It can be spotted at Fourth Street bus terminus in the capital.
Shingai is a Zimbabwean-British musician born and raised in South London. In addition to her past highly rated contributions and newly found solo career, “The new afrofuturist pop goddess” according to Rolling Stone, is also known as thelead singer and bass player from the certified platinum band “The Noisettes”.
