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POY

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
VETERAN hip hop artiste POY has described music as his shortcut to heaven saying it takes him to a place of total happiness and fulfilment.

Speaking about the inspiration behind his latest 13-track album, Short Cuts to Heaven, released recently, the multi-award winning artiste said his LP was based on the principle that everyone wants to go to heaven.

“I believe heaven is a state of being, a state of total happiness and fulfilment. So imagine if there was a quick way to get to Heaven like a short cut so that’s the underlying concept to my album. For me the tracks are short cuts to my heaven because making and listening to them gives me a feeling of total happiness and fulfilment. I hope it will do the same for others when they listen to the album,” said POY.

Using biblical references on the album with Genesis as the intro track, POY’s songs are about his journey through life from being a bright eyed hip hop artiste and his experiences. The album, produced by Rusape-based Split Loui, concludes with the song Revelations.

“The intro is Genesis and the outro is called Revelations. When you listen to the album you go through my journey from beginning to end. I play with different sounds from Naija beats to Trap Soul. I also sing a lot on the album. As an artiste I believe in evolving, I never remain the same, I grow and change and reinvent,” said POY.

Songs such as John 14 and Sinners are not even gospel tracks but have social messages about the bad side of a life of drugs, sex and alcohol.

The track Animal is a letter to Tehn Diamond who declined to feature on POY’s album citing money problems.

“Animal’s second verse was my letter to Tehn after he was supposed to be on the track only to say he had no money for studio time. It made me wonder about these so called kings with no kingdom ownership. This has always been an aspect of hip hop,” said POY.

He said with the album he took a gamble with sounds and kudos go to his producer Split Loui from Rusape.

“SCTH has a very different sound; it’s not the usual hip hop sound, it’s a fusion of Trapsoul and Naija Afro beat. It has a lot of dance music on it and very catchy hooks while staying true to the extra creativity I like to put in my music. Splits Loui has produced some amazing beats on this album that will rock for a while,” said POY.

Songs to look out for on the album include Wisha on a Naija beat, a party track Gin and Love u which are set to be given heavy rotation on local radio stations.

The music video for Love u produced by award winning videographer Andy Cutta debuted two weeks ago on ZBCtv’s Coke on the Beat.

“Andy Cutta really pulled of some of his best work with the colour grading and editing. We’re thankful as we showcased a great Bulawayo location – Impala lodge in Famona where the video was shot.”