KURE KURE REMIX | What Enzo Ishall Did Cannot Be Undone

I believe that Kure Kure is a song that everyone finds relatable because of the message it communicates: a message of nostalgia, fear, and homesickness all of which come with the trekking reality of the Bantu. As a people who have always been on the move, seeking greener pastures and fending for our tribes, it is easy to relate to a song that reflects the feelings that weave through the sojourner’s mind every time they are on trek.

An article by Justice Tawedzegwa J. Mfiri

This is a song for the son who left Rusape to find the sun in the Sunshine City; a song for the daughter who left Nkayi for Harare to change the fortunes of Granny and those back home. This is a song for the miner deep in the bowels of Mazowe, working flat out for the family back in Mutare; a song for the sons and daughters of the soil representing Zimbabwe in South Africa, in the UK, and across the diaspora.

Kure Kure, originally performed as a military morale-raising song during training (as we came to learn through social media), became a hit after its sensational lyrics sent social media users into a frenzy.

That is when Magic Wacho jumped onto the tide and rode it to the popular AI-generated version that dominated the charts.

This version has since been remastered into a remix featuring contemporary icons from Zimbabwe’s urban music scene: Nisha Ts, Calvin Mangena, Master H, I Candy, and Enzo Ishall.

It is an excellent intersection of artificial intelligence and authentic artistry. The song has gained a new meaning.

The ENZO ISHALL Effect

For the remix, I pick Enzo Ishall for the verse that gives the song a completely new understanding of the mood it carries.

He opens by singing, “havamborwara kunyeperana/vakasimba mhamha…” lines that literally crash, in a mesmerising way, into the hook of the song, which says, “mai vanorwara/ndirikure, ndinonzwa nani.”

Here comes the contrast between the former and the latter: a declaration of faith against a confession of fear. With Enzo Ishall’s verse, we learn a new dynamic in what goes through a person’s mind when that fear creeps in. The fear of family meeting carnage while you are away is immediately replaced by the bold statement of faith that keeps foragers going: they are safe; do not lie to each other.

I hesitate to call this denial. Yet within denial exists a stubborn faith, which, in essence, represents the good wishes of that son or daughter who is away and speaks well of the health and wellbeing of their family while seeking wealth elsewhere.

In just these opening lines, Enzo Ishall delivers a refreshing state of mind, where what keeps the hunter going is the inner voice that says, “vakasimba mhamha” — Mum is okay. So there is no need to worry.

Every hunter has told themselves this line because it is a prayer, and prayers keep heads up and things moving.

But because prayer does not replace carnal thoughts, the verse immediately mirrors the human condition through Enzo’s words: “ndafunga mhai, ndafunga baba, ndafunga vana.” This line returns us to the original state of nostalgia upon which the first version of the song is anchored. The sentiment reaches its height in “dai ndiri shiri, ndaimbururuka kuenda kumba,” where the hunter wishes for extraordinary abilities to overcome the limitations of reality.

To make things even more nostalgic, the verse peaks with the mention of Zimbabwe in “Zimbabwe kure!” delivered with a rise in pitch that keeps that particular moment glued to the brain long after Enzo yields back to Magic Wacho’s chorus.

He is speaking to the diaspora community in much the same way the comrades spoke to the Zimbabwe dream at Chimoio in the liberation song “Tonosangana kuZimbabwe.” At the mention of Zimbabwe — the dream every heart thumps as a specific memory chip is rewound in the minds of the children of the soil.

This is what Enzo Ishall has done in a simple verse on an AI-generated song. It is a hit.

As the song continues to play in our cars, leisure centres, and hearts, we recall even when we do not realise that we do — the Great Zimbabwe dream that has kept souls moving up and about in search of the elixir that propels this economy forward.

This is the power that music has carried within itself since time immemorial, AI-generated or not.