Released on the 25th of August 2023, Public Enemy is an affirmation of who R Peels is in the Zim Hip Hop genre and a rumination of hope in painful times as well as self-reflection. The project is not only a testimony of R Peels’ consistency but a walk through the Chitungwiza based rapper, Bruce Tanaka Mungoyo’s, personal experiences, moral code, aspirations, gratefulness, spirituality, personal opinions amongst other themes. R Peels brings together producers Jax, NagBeatz, Jonn the producer, Jax and Boy Tricky as well as artists Asaph, Lloyd Soul, Seven Cadre, Kay Flow, Tuccy Da MC and Trevor Dongo to come up with a solid 14 track project.
A Public Enemy is defined by the dictionary.cambridge.org webpage as someone or something that many people do not like or approve of. The album mainly being a rumination of the negative remarks he gets for staying true to himself, the album title track explores spirituality, gratitude, hustling and the criticism that is thrown at him for staying true to himself. The song does a very good job of summing up all of the album’s major themes and then goes on to iron them out again successfully in the Boy Tricky produced track Not Impressed 2. The two tracks work hand in glove to tell Pharoah’s story from where it started, where he is today, how he got there, the consequences and rewards it has brought and finally where he aspires to be.
The content in the track F**k the industry , one is tempted to think that the rapper was paying tribute the famous American rap group Public Enemy, whose dense, layered sound and radical political message made them among the most popular, controversial, and influential hip-hop artists of the late 1980s and early ’90s. The track is a response to Kae Chaps Ihulumende verse that also fires shots at Beefy, The New Bhundu Boys and…he track also pays tribute to Zim Hip Hop veterans Maskiri and Stunner as well as Voltz Jt whom he says “pulled him on the map on the new skool.”
“A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them” John C Maxwell. The track Correction which features Lloyd Soul is a relatable reflection of past mistakes and failure which he says he “corrected”. He further acknowledges that pain he went through to be where he is and expresses his gratitude to God for where he is today. The soulful song also serves as a prayer to the country with the hardships that the people of Zimbabwe are going through at the time of the album’s release. This is brought out when he says “Mwari komboreraiwo Zimbabwe” bringing out his patriotism and the desire to see change in the lives of its inhabitants.
Its hard to imagine an R Peels project without giving hard work and God’s grace and it is also true for Public Enemy as well. He has done in the past with songs like… and does so on his fifth track Gold. The song which features Seven Cadre and Kayflow is a tale of success that comes from hard work and perseverance with Seven Cadre who is on the chorus who says that they started on the bottom which is where the gold comes from.
What happens when two of Zimbabwe’s greatest rappers come together to create a song? Well magic is created and Rep your city which features Asaph serves as proof of that. The song which features two artists from different backgrounds, rapping styles, ghettos and cities is about representing where you come from and taking pride in doing that. The track also addresses hustling.
“Good moral values are mostly moulded from a place where love, faith, and hope exist.” Arsenio V. Manalo Jr. It is really difficult pick out an R Peels song that he does not talk about his values and morale code and in this project, he set aside a song just to do that. With human sexuality debates having been dominating social media for the past few years and in R Peels takes time to share his personal standing on the subject in the track Woman Lover. He emphatically points out that he is not “queer or confused” but a woman lover in the chorus. He raises this in the track Not Impressed 2 when he says that “I am a straight black male” bringing out standing on the issue despite not criticizing any other people’s sexuality as he has in his previous projects. He further shares his good conduct towards his mother and father as well as others asserting himself that he is blessed because he is good hearted.
Love has always been an important message in the music of Mwana WaPharoah with tracks like Uripo, Tsika and Andiroya protruding the list of his songs with the theme that he has done in the past. In this project, the rapper collaborates with familiar in the love songs circles, the King of RnB, Trevor Dongo in the track True Love. The song is a celebration of a new beginning that comes with falling in love with a new person. Moreover, the song also explores the beauty planning the future of a new relationship and a general appreciation of women which he also does in the album’s eleventh track Perfect For you. The song Perfect for you is a confession of love and appreciation of women for what they bring into relationships.
Popular content creator Ray Vines once compare R Peels to the late great American rapper Nipsey Hussle whom Peels himself has publicly confessed to have drawn inspiration from. Nipsey being an artist who ran his music career alongside his enterprises, R Peels has understood, the significance of hard work and hustling considering his consistent album release every year with Zviri Ever Beautiful 2 loaded with Forty five tracks and Zvigaba.com which he is part of doing well on the apparels market. On the track Zana which is the Shona word for hundred, the rapper emphasis on the importance of hustling and working hard. The track expresses his desire to hustle in a morally ethical way. R Peels also brings out the theme of hustle in the track Tongues which features Tuccy da MC as well as in the track Raw. In these tracks, R Peels, reflects on all the good that hustle has brought for him and criticises everyone else who is reluctant about having a hustle.
R Peels has always referred to his music career as a calling and has always been vocal about the social ills that affect the spiritual lives of people and on Public Enemy, he does so in the track Worship. The albums fourteenth and last track exposes idol worshiping that people are practising on celebrities.
In conclusion, R Peels’ Public Enemy, is a well packaged project that addresses a lot of the daily experiences of an ordinary Zimbabwean and does so well while working with different producers which is no longer popular with artists these days.
Sources: zvigaba.com, wikipedia and https://www.instagram.com/r.peels/
