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Mbulelo Mpofu

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Painful! That’s the sinking feeling patrons had on Saturday evening when they convened at the Venue With A Twist in Killarney for a date with emergent hip-hop artiste, Voltz JT who was scheduled to be the headline act at the Bulawayo Edition of the 9ice Festival, but he was a no-show.

The festival kicked off on a low note, but as it got dark, the atmosphere was reflecting the mood of a pure music festival. The attendance was poor though as the number of patrons could barely reach a hundred.

This year’s 9ice Festival theme is, “Pushing the Youth Culture Forward” which is all about showcasing the brilliance that the youths possess.

As promised, the festival started with hip-hop dancing competitions and among the judges were dance gurus, Megatronz Empire. Hip-hop artiste, Brintz hosted the Hip-hop Power Sessions where rappers such as CTL, Absoll Luz, Glitchy, and Black Spear spit hard-hitting bars, metaphors and rhymes.

The last performer was nascent Afro-pop artiste Bhila before DJs took over. Asaph, Lord Edward, MJ Sings and Imicimbi KaFofo were notable figures in the audience.

However, patrons were left with more questions than answers as to where the “These days” hitmaker was, but the reasons for his absence are still not yet established as efforts to contact the organisers were fruitless.

The festival certainly did not live up to its billing and more work needs to be done if it is to compete with other events in the precinct. The Johannesburg edition is slated for September 30. – @MbuleloMpofu