eBusiness Weekly
Jeffrey Gogo
Zimbabwean dancehall (ZimDancehall) music doesn’t particularly move me, both in content and rhythm. And also in style. Except for a celebrated few, the widespread poverty of quality and skill within the genre is a significant anti-climax to an otherwise squeamish synthetic sound that almost always never climaxes.
It is too noisy and too irregular for my liking, failing neither to fulfil the desire for self-consciousness nor to inspire the deluge of nostalgic emotional pleasure, of heartfelt joy and peace that Dembo and Marley achieve with ease, even on their bad day.
But then I stumbled upon a new “riddim” this week — Bitcoin riddim — which, obviously, is motivated by a cryptocurrency of the same name.
A “riddim” is a corruption of the noun “rhythm”. It is commonly used in the reggae music circles to depict a rhythmic sound on which several different musicians feature, with different songs.
As a musical tool, “riddims” are most effective as instruments of advertising, but only for a short time, says music critic Tanaka Chidora, a Popular Culture lecturer with the University of Zimbabwe. That’s because local “riddims” have a short-life shelf, he argues.
Split between the shock of a somewhat bizarre pleasant expectation, and the unflinching conviction of a die-hard Pharisee questioning the good things of Nazareth, it wasn’t an easy decision giving the new ZimDancehall beat offering by Chillspot Records the benefit of the doubt.
Chillspot Records released the “riddim” two weeks ago, according to company representative Arnold Kamudyariwa, popularly known as DJ Fantan. It features 25 songs by established and emerging ZimDancehall reggae artists, but the most prominent musician on the beat is afro-pop singer Andy Muridzo.
Muridzo “rides” the “riddim” with his song Vana VaSatan, widely seen as an attack on fellow pop singer Jah Prayzah, with whom he had a nasty fallout a few weeks ago. Kamudyariwa claims Muridzo’s song has gone viral, attracting widespread positive reception.
Against my own prejudices, I found that the Bitcoin riddim somewhat does sound easy on the ear, mildly mellow. It is good. And, to be clear, this is not one of those Paul seeing the light moments. ZimDancehall still falls far short in lyrical depth and finesse, often sounding confrontational and angry, an exercise in self-glorification.
How corporate is the riddim?
But, perhaps, what could be more fascinating is the effect, if any, that the new beat could have on the development and adoption of cryptocurrencies in Zimbabwe. The Bitcoin riddim clearly targets the Millennials — those born after the year 2000 and beyond – and their peers in the twenties, where ZimDancehall is most popular.
Likewise, cryptocurrencies have proved a hit with Millennials worldwide. Studies show about 70 percent of Millennials in industrialised economies have piled into digital money. It may not be the case here, but with the Bitcoin riddim, that seems to be the long-term goal.
“The Bitcoin riddim is trending…people usually pay attention to riddims that go viral and may be drawn to want to learn more about its history and background,” said DJ Fantan, the Chillspot Records official.
“We are likely to see more people trying to understand Bitcoin as a result of the Bitcoin riddim,” he said, claiming some basic knowledge of Bitcoin. His partner, one calling himself Levels, said he didn’t know about cryptocurrencies.
Does it always follow, though, that a beat like the Bitcoin riddim, which we can’t say, really, says anything about Bitcoin, will lead to wider adoption and acceptance of the virtual currency?
Tanaka Chidora, the UZ music critic, is in doubt.
“The question to ask is, how ‘corporate’ is the riddim? Can it penetrate spaces where this cryptocurrency has a willing market, and not our hand to mouth spaces of the ghetto?” Chidora quipped, in a text message.
“And after the soporific and feel-good effects of the riddim, what are the chances of people making corporate decisions based on a riddim whose shelf life is short and will soon disappear into oblivion?
“It is difficult to count the number of people whose decision making is influenced by pop beats. If some people are going to seek Bitcoin literacy after listening to the riddim then we can say it has achieved. But beyond the pleasure buffet offered by the dancehall space, can it usher in serious cryptocurrency reflections in the minds of the pleasure seekers?” he mused.
There is a glut of issues that after listening to the Bitcoin riddim remain hanging. Little doubt, this was a thoughtful artistic score. If the beat was meant to advertise Bitcoin simply by naming the digital currency after it, it may have achieved the intended goal. And should this have been an exercise in “appropriating a catchword into the database of riddim names”, all the same, the outcome would be neither here nor there.
“With advertising, definitely the effect is deliberate, but with riddims, the effect can be merely coincidental,”said Chidora.
