GIRLZ WITH GUNZ

Chimurenga Renaissance features Tendai Maraire, from the widely acclaimed Seattle group Shabazz Palaces, one of the leaders of hip hop's audacious progressive fringe (New York Times).??Girlz with Gunz is a 27-minute, 11 song EP (vinyl/download). It is Chimurenga Renaissance's first release for Glitterbeat Records. A full-length album will follow in the autumn of 2016. ??Tendai hails from a renowned Zimbabwean musical lineage. His father, Abraham Dumisani Maraire, moved to the United States in the late 60's and helped create a flourishing Zimbabwean music scene in the Pacific Northwest. Tendai's partner in Chimurenga Renaissance, guitarist Hussein Kalonji, is a first generation Congolese American born in Washington DC. His father, Raymond Braynck Kalonji, is a Congolese guitar legend credited with pioneering the Rumba/Soukouss sound. ??Remembering Grace, a Girl with a Gun:?After spending the night listening to Girlz with Gunz, I spent the day remembering Grace Maseva. She was always cheerful, always smiling, and always making bawdy jokes. For her, sexual organs were a normal part of life. A person must pee and play with something. That's just how things are; a tree has fruit, a baboon has that prideful butt, we have our special business. She would laugh and laugh. She was also a great cook. Always did the greens just right. She also fought in the Second Chimurenga, the war that ended white rule in Zimbabwe. Grace was a trained killer.??There were many women like her in the War of Independence, and their sacrifice, dedication, and general brilliance is celebrated in Girlz with Gunz. This is the spirit of the work. The collaboration between two very talented American-based African musicians, Tendai Maraire and Hussein Kalonji, translates the fire of the revolutionary African woman into a music that's richly and thickly innovative.?---CharlesTonderaiMudede??Tracklist:?Side1?1.I See You For Who You Are?2.Our Purpose Is Forever?3.Everything Comes Off Tonight?4.I Like You The Way You Are?5.Nunya Buziniez?6.Queenz With Cannnonz??Side2?1.She Is The Fairest Of Them All?2.Prepare To Shoot?3.Peace Always Has A Price?4.When Its True Love, Shoot Farther?5.Girlz with Gunz