Anzo
3310 - EP
Album · Afro Soul · 2021
Anzo’s outlook was largely shaped by his hometown Estcourt, which bears the postal code 3310. Effectively picking tools from his rich arsenal of skills, the picture he paints is complex. He croons over trap production on opener “Umthandazo”, while on “Izimpi”, he takes to rap to narrate the cause and effect of murderous gun violence, which his guest Sjava calls out as regressive. His fluencey in maskandi is displayed on “MaMkhize” in which he deploys the genre’s customary airy falsetto. Alongisde mentor and 1020 Cartel superior Sjava, Anzo is in the right company of like-minded contemporary Afro-soul musicians Mzulu Phaqa (“Umthandazo”) and Aubrey Qwana (“Umngani Wakho”), who incorporate maskandi in trap, soul and other western styles.