Ti Gonzi

Ti ‘Ghetto Fabulous’ Gonzi
Ti ‘Ghetto Fabulous’ Gonzi
	T GONZI Ti Gonzi
Born	Tinashe Gonzara
Residence	Mufakose, Harare
Occupation	Musician; Designer;
Organization	Dr Bond Entertainment
Known for	Music, Zim Hip Hop

Ti Gonzi (real name Tinashe Gonzara) is a Zimbabwean multi award winning Zim Hip Hop artist based in Harare. He has won some local awards for his music. Some of his popular tracks include Zvenyu and Hurombo which features popular artists Cindy Munyavi. Other collaborations he has done include Ende Makaoma which features Ras Caleb. His songs usually has the line Hipu Hopu yekuGhetto.

Ti Gonzi said that he intends to change the face of Zim Hip Hop by targeting the ghetto youths and inspiring them to create music that engages communities and changes behaviors.

He is based in Mufakose, Harare.

Background

He was born on the 13th of April in 1993 and bred in the dusty streets of Mufakose where he attended his primary education at Ruzivo primary school,his form 1 and 2 at Mhuri imwe secondary school and completed his form 3 and form 4 education at Mount Pleasant High school when his parents moved there with work.

Career

Imwembeu, as he is referred to in some quarters, began freestyle rapping as a teen which earned him a name in the surrounding neighborhoods before national fame, however, he started recording professionally in 2008 and released his first 6-track album which was produced by Spencer Masango at Track Records in 2009 when he was 16 years old. The album however was not a success due to poor marketing and distribution and in 2012 he released his second offering titled M.P.M (Moyo Pfungwa neMweya/Motsi Piri Muyedzo) album a 12 track album which also did not reach mainstream success. In 2014,Ti Gonzi scooped his first-ever award, the Best Freestyle Artist Award at the ZimHipHop Awards which was decided by the crowd present after a freestyle battle on the day. He rose to stardom 2015 when he dropped the hit single,"Zvenyu" which became very popular nationally in the streets as well as on all local radio stations."Zvenyu" settled on number one on the Star Fm charts for over 9 weeks and dominated the charts on Power Fm and Zi Fm Radios eventually making him the rapper the biggest winner at the 2015 ZimHipHop Awards walking away with 3 accolades,

Hipu Hopu YekuGhetto album which the "Zvenyu" hitmaker released in 2016 was his most successful album which spawned hits such as "Hurombo" which he featured the song-bird Cindy, Dj Tamuka produced, "Ma ex Angu single, "Photo Album", "Chirungu", "Kwatabva", "Ende Makaoma" featuring Dancehall musician,Ras Caleb including "Zvenyu" as well just to name a few. In 2017 Hipu Hopu Yeku Ghetto boss dropped the "Best Mero" album which carried singles such as, "Tisvikewo", "All I need", "Chii", "My Statements" and the likes. The album was produced by Bilberry and Gray Beats and it performed fairly well. In 2017, Shoko Festival chose Ti Gonzi to represent Zimbabwe at an African Festival which was hosted in Senegal. In 2019, Ti Gonzi collaborated with Ishan on the single titled, "Kure" which became a national hit, arguably the song of the year outside the ZimHip Hop boundaries making Ti Gonzi the first-ever Zimbabwean rapper to reach a million views on youtube. During this period he dropped singles which became very popular such as, "Kufamba Murima" which got over 200 000 views, "MaBazooka Enzo nemaPumacol" as well as many features with popular musicians such as Jah Signal, XQ, Sniper, Maskiri, Willis Wattafi, Trey Young and a whole lot of other upcoming talents.

It is alleged that Ti Gonzi is one of the Zimbabwean Hip Hop greatest of all time within a short space of time making ZimHipHop an acceptable genre to the Zimdancehall followers who contribute the larger population on Zimbabwe. He announced that Hipu Hopu Yekughetto Volume two has been recorded, mixed and mastered but did not specify more details on the project. His music is characterized by deep emotions, aggression, wordplay, witty rhymes, metaphors and similes as well as social and political commentary. On the 28 of September, he will be performing in UK (Leicester) where he will share the stage with Freeman and Jah Signal.

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International shows

He has also shared stage with the likes of Cassper Nyovest, Mafikizolo, Platnum Diamond, Emtee, Winky D, Jah Prayzah to mention a few. He has also performed in South Africa, Mozambique, Senegal, and the United Kingdom. The sky remains the limit for the talented rapper as he is well known for his ability to shake crowds during performances

Assult

On the 17th March 2019, the rapper was heavily attacked on his way home from Oskid Productions studio which left him battling for his life. He got stabbed in the head by a knife and this led to his half side of the skull being removed from the head so that the blood which clotted in his head could be cleaned. The skull was placed in his womb and be lived like this for 3 months.