You Need To See This One!

If you are both a Hip-hop Head and animation enthusiast like myself you will definitely love the recent Zimbiyana Jones animated video of a track titled Deja Vu. The song features Swaygon The Shaman, music production by  Johnny Infinite  and the animation is handled by Eden Langevelt. These "fantastic four" collaborated to materialize their creativity in sound and visual aesthetic.

Who is Zimbiyana Jones

Zimbiyana Jones (Born Chitarisiro Chiketa) used to go by the monicker Mc Chita back in the day, in case you may be wondering who he is.

He is a respected veteran of Hip-hop in Southern Africa and often celebrated for his impeccable cadence and ability to take syllables for verbal calisthenics. Many hip-hop fans still rank this icon as having one of the best verses in Synik's 2012 classic album Syn City, of course to find his tracks back ten you may need to search for Mc Chita and to find him way back before that it should be Satin.

Deja Vu Analysis

Production Quality 

Johnny Infinite is definitely an experienced producer, the instrumentation and vocal engineering sounds great on my speakers. Note that I am not speaking as a qualified producer on this one. My ranking is based on a fan perspective.

I like the transitions in the beat, the somewhat minimalist approach and how it accommodates Zimbiyana's flow.

A lot of beats tend to layer a lot of elements and crowd them at once. I feel that Johnny Infinity's instrumentation shape shifts to the vocals (or the vocals shape shifted to the transitions).

Lyrics

Zimbiyana Jones and Swaygon  are proof that a song can tick both boxes as far as style and substance is concerned. This separates the sheep from the GOATS since it is no longer unusual for chancers to run with a stolen cadence and crunch a few rhyming words that lead nowhere.

Zimbiyana's experience allows him to construct coherent visuals in your head that amalgamate into a story. Swaygon The Shaman complements this in the hook.

The verses themselves by the way have their own transitions, that would also qualify as hooks if they had been repeated, so not only is Jones a technical but he also rhymes with reason.

The Overall Message

The streams of consciousness in  the rappers pen manifest in forms that are subject to multiple interpretations even to the same person, much like religious or sagacious texts.


The way it hit me was that , the author was having his therapy session with the fans and pouring out his heart about the world within him and the world around him. Like any real therapy session he begins by telling the therapist (the fans are the therapist) about his stress. Sometimes a therapists job is to listen , which is what fans do.

The song begins with the words:

"Of late I been stressing, my city depressing,

The devil be testing, so I be right here,

Counting my blessings"

He goes on to cite political situations and self motivating affirmations about how he manages to stand strong in the middle of a socio-economic crisis. He also reflects on his longevity in the music and how the low profits of the game have not deterred him from continuing. 

The Animation

I love the use of  2D and sometimes 2.5D characters in the animation. It adds value to the consumer and strays away from the norm. It resembles a fusion in some instances of a 2 world fused with a less photo-realistic 3D rig. 

I was pretty impressed with  motion, staging, scenery, drawing styles and color palette. The subtitled lyrics also helped me understand the stream of consciousness. 

Support Creativity

Instead of whining on Facebook about how great talent is slept on, lets take the lead in sharing this article and the video itself far and wide, so that it can become visible to more audiences. Likes, shares and comments virtually cost nothing but an intent to see good art  recognized.

As the song has expressed, these individuals have been passionate enough to remain in the game for us. It is our turn to show that we appreciate it.

Anything further than me giving you a link to the song will just be a spoiler. Watch the video for yourself below.