Arcane featuring Mr. Rebel and Griffin Makwiramiti have just dropped a protest anthem the Povo Chant. The song delves candidly into the socio-economic and political situation prevailing in Zimbabwe.

By Plot Mhako

The chant dropped at a time Zimbabweans across the divide are speaking loudly about the declining state of life, the police brutality and corruption in the country under the #ZimbabweanLivesMatter hashtag. Opening up with a statement from cleric and activist Pastor Evan Mawarire, the song samples Ephat Mujuru’s Mugariro and brings in powerful hip hop bars laced with a feel of trap and traditional chants.

The artist Arcane is a spoken word artist / emcee from Harare, Zimbabwe. He started his journey in 2013 performing at open mic sessions and poetry slams across Harare, eventually carving a name in Spoken Word circles, headlining events such as Enthuse Afrika’s First Fridays, The Afro-Playlist, Page Poetry Alive among many others. He’s also been published on platforms like Poetry International, Windows & Mirrors, ZimLink, Blazer Mag and Radioactive Poetry Blog among others.

Arcane has also graced television with appearances on ZBC’s Spoken Word segment and the iFlix show This Is A Call.

The transition into music came in 2016 when he started working with the likes of Mr. Rebel, Arlington ‘AyTee’ Taylor and others which culminated into a compilation project entitled Precursor that can be found here: https://audiomack.com/arcane-zw. 

“Mr. Government Man,
What’s your plan to get us outta this jam?
The voice of (the) people’s the voice of God,
Hmmm, was that an elaborate scam?”