June 14, 2024 • 15 mins
In this electrifying episode of "Beats & Dreams," Taf sits down with the dynamic and trailblazing Chief Chino, a prominent figure in the Zimbabwean music industry. From humble beginnings to becoming a household name, Chief Chino shares his journey, struggles, and the pivotal moments that shaped his career. Dive deep into the rhythms and stories that define Zimbabwean music today, as Chief Chino discusses his influences, the evolution of his sound, and his vision for the future of the industry. Whether you're a music enthusiast or simply love a good success story, this episode is sure to inspire and entertain. Don't miss out on Chief Chino's insights, anecdotes, and the passion that drives his musical genius. Tune in for a beat-filled adventure through the heart of Zimbabwean music!
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Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/soundcheck-zw--6201716/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What's Up, everybody? Welcome tothe Chatroom, a podcast dedicated with having
interviews with upcoming stars and influencers ofour generation. Please follow us on Facebook
and Instagram at the chatroom dot tcR and on Twitter at the chatroom underscore
TCR. Also, don't forget tobecome one of our valued Patreon members,
which allows you to unlock exclusive content. Why are also supporting this podcast?
(00:26):
Enjoy the episode. Good afternoon inthe morning, ladies and gentlemen. My
name is Cheff and we're back withanother episode of the Chatroom and with us
today. I'm not gonna lie toyou, ladies and germen. I'm extremely
excited about today's guests. We havenone other man. She knows say one
of the people she's what's good peoplethem? You know recently just dropped an
(00:52):
album. You recently just dropped analbum. It's straight fire. If you
haven't got if you haven't listened toit, you need to go listen to
under one that's going. So tell'sa little bit about some a lot of
people about if Gino White, Chief, Gino why chief? Hey man,
(01:14):
Sha? I like I like myhistory, you know, I like to
know who I am, what I'mabout I need to know them things.
So growing up, my granddad wouldalways tell me things about about Zimbabwe before
it was Zimbabwe, before he waseven Rhodesia, or how he was told
(01:34):
by his his elders. But anyways, cut a long story show. Yeah,
man, And the origin of thename Gutu is actually to the story
I can go into from another time. But when white people were told that,
(01:57):
like you know, this particular andthis coach Kutu, they couldn't pronounce
full words, so they shortened itto Kutu, which let on became Gutu.
And I just so happens, mygranddad was also a chief really,
so it being chief gud too.I just had to make a chief Kutu.
But that's long, so I justwent to the Chief Gino and yeah,
(02:20):
Chief Gino was born. All right, all right, that's actually crazy
because I'm from gut I didn't evenknow that whole backstory that's actually said.
So you learned something detail the timefor you, all right. So the
album just dropped. It just droppedtwenty one. This is what inspired trying
to achieve with this album, Like, what's what's the goal? Man?
(02:44):
If I'm being honest, if you. I just make music for me and
my boys, right, And thenthey put pressure on me to pre out
there to the people because they've beenenjoying it so much. They feel like,
let's get more people involved. Sothat's where we are completely. And
we started to cut you over theremen that you know what's actually crazy.
(03:09):
I have a question for you.Remember the zim Co next days, Yeah
to sixty you on? That isn'tit? I was, And I think
you got yourself palm, Nah,you're thinking about my little brother. He
oh, yeah, your brother.And then you had another episode but yeah,
(03:30):
pack is my little brother. Itis my younger brother. He had
more cloud on on. There waszim concks platforms than I do. I
went by p K, which ismy my government name. It's shot upernatural
mm hmm. So yeah, allmy close friends know me as p K.
(03:51):
That was way before music then,no man. But then I I
used to write poems. Really yeah, I'd write poems, but I'll make
it so I write all my poemsin The intention was just so I can
keep practicing my shaun mm hmm.That that was the whole thing behind it.
(04:13):
And one time someone told me tojust recite from over a beat.
Yeah, just started doing it moreand more and more, and before I
knew it, wearing studios making thesong for me and my boys playing them
and then yeah, they'll guss meup, man, tell me release the
thing and we drop it in herehere and there, here and there with
(04:34):
you know, the YouTube beats right, the best way. That's the best
way I could think about. Likeyou didn't want to do it. You're
just so good. Your friends arelike people. I need to hear this,
people need to hear this, soparticularly all the talk about your song
number three rot this one for thoseI haven't heard it, but that one
(04:59):
if that does and convinced you thatyou know the I don't know what because
this one spoke to me so inthe opening line, in the opening verse,
obviously you you sampled it off thebiggest Molls juicy and you said,
uh, this song is well everyholiday and where as a matter of fact,
(05:23):
why I got and still made itout and you got me there,
especially when you say, well Iended up that was August sixty, my
wife that that's just like briefly likemaybe two minutes the background like where you
(05:45):
grew up and then how you thenended up in the u K. So
like if you can do like aquick speed like a background story for that
one. Okay, So like I'vealready touched on my granddad being in touch
with his in where he's from,and you know, instilling that in myself.
From when I was like five yearsold, would always go Kussier every
(06:09):
single holiday. You'd go there,and when you're there, you know,
you do as others do, soyou actually get to experience life how the
kids in those particular areas live andit's a tough life. Man, tend
all them things there. I wouldsee me and the kudo you know,
(06:31):
yeah we we we did all themthings. And when Holly finishes, you
go back to Ai. I couldn'twait to go back to Ai. But
as I got older, got toabout grade seven, my parents came to
the UK and I got sent causethat's where I was all the time.
So then I got to really spenda lot of time there and I made
(06:53):
a lot of friends. I reallyexperienced life in its simplest form. Uh
I forward into form two second termmy visit came through, so then I
got shipped over to Chi to plan. Now that was a mad transition,
man, that was a mad transitionbecause it can imagine going from Noza to
(07:17):
this, I never cutting off ATMs, just you know, going from you
want to eat, go catch yourcheck to you don't even see it alive
in the UK, just seeing italready in a packet. So that was
that was a drastic change in lifestyle. So I feel like that had a
(07:39):
lot of influence and who I am, and that song was just reminiscing on
those memories that no nostyalgia. Iwas hoping to bring that people who have
experienced that. It was bad atthe time, but when you look back
at it now, yeah, that'sto childhood. Yeah, because I'm thinking
about like especially when you say anotherdog ure talking like so ye were they
(08:03):
happy with you? Listen to thesong? Yeah? Man, you know
I name drop a few people whenI when I show it to them,
like, yo, man, wereally did that. How do you still
remember all them things there? Likeit like my never when you go I'm
so fished by tickets all the wayfrom the Yeah, so what you said,
(08:30):
but you said you left when you'reabout fourteen, isn't it? Yeah
man thir thirteen thirteen, Yeah,so you were then about thirteen. Uh,
how anything goes when old and didn'tgo to a girl on the right,
(08:52):
you go on and you know Ishould go to look for work first,
as you know. So yeah Iwas. I would say I was
drinking like that, but yeah,I know it's my favorite song. It's
kind of I'm really fan boying rightnow, but it was. I'm really
(09:13):
enjoyed it. It was real nostalgic. It came back. It's different from
like a lot a lot Like Iwas talking to my other guys, like
the whole of the Chatter team,and we all were like on the same
page saying. The difference with theproblem a lot of zim rappers is they're
talking, oh, I'm making makingsix six figures living in a condo,
and do all the like, ohno, you're not doing that, but
(09:37):
you with your music. It waslike, I see that even when when
you're talking like to the when youwere saying now paying kind of any kind
of you were talking these extravagant fivehundred dollars bottles that no one really actually
pays. It's stuff we can allrelate to, and that's like, that's
(09:58):
something that's great. So when doit with just a little bit more about
the music. What what did yousay has been your biggest challenge music and
regards to making music and the musicout of the balancing music, work,
your life, out of your outyour family field. But all of them,
man, my family is so supportive. I want to do anything that
they just let me run with it. But I suppose my dad is heavy
(10:22):
on the music side, do youknow what I mean? My dad used
to be a djit, but Ifeel like I get a lot of influences
from him. My mom is justso easy going and laid back, so
she won't put too much pressure onme in that front. But I don't
do music to a living. Idid because it's fun. So a lot
(10:46):
of the times, the most challengingdifficult thing is what can I say?
No problem with producers, beat,someone saying here, you stole my beat,
none, none of that. Allthese features, none of it,
none of that. Sort of likemy biggest problem, I would say is
I can't even think of them.Bro. Everything is just if it was
(11:09):
like everying just clicks into place atthe right time, you know, like
right now I'm working with kind ofboy. Oh really a lot? Yeah,
we just linked up on Instagram Idon't have too many problems with too
many people because I don't take musicthat seriously. If someone says to me
(11:31):
x x y, I just say, oh, it is what it is.
While a lot of people try togo international, my main goal is
try to go national. You knowwhat I'm saying. So like, I
don't feel like I have to trytoo hard. I just have to be
true to myself here throughe to whatI know, because I feel like eventually
I will find the right crowd andI can relate to the people that the
(11:52):
people I want to relate to mymusic will relate to it. The biggest
problem might maybe getting it in touchwith them because a lot of people maybe
dates had to get to in inin certain locations, or if I put
my music out there, not manypeople can get to where the music is
at. Uh. But that's that'sthe question I would have to actually sit
(12:13):
down and really think about for meto keep you I agree. I can't
think of one I agree with onthe other getting music because the funny the
way I listened to the way Iactually found your music was I was listening
to one of other zimmers, theNBA, and after his song finished it,
not just shuffles to whatever song similarin that category. And your song
(12:35):
came up was driving, so Icouldn't. I hadn't put up a song.
I'm mixed, the didn't playing andnumber oh okay, oh oh,
ship just played it the whole waysthat that's pretty your music. I can
definitely speak to a lot of peopleagree with finding and getting in contact with
(12:58):
them might be difficult, but it'sthe only way I proms From here,
I one down, I still myexperience. We go on moving forward.
Yeah, man, So I feellike that's the problem that you know,
it will sort itself out, andyou know, I get more familiar with
the industry and I get a managerand we can start having actual strategies on
(13:18):
how we're going to roll out musicand take a little bit more seriously.
Then yeah, I can actually makea name for myself in the music team,
because yeah, I've just been solaid back with it, man,
I don't really stop to really scrutinize, like, what's not going right me?
I put a tracker, I getone hundred views. Do you know
(13:39):
how happy I am? Because Iwas happy for me to just listen to
it with just five for my boys. But if another twenty people can play
five more times bro as twenty peoplelistening to my voice, I am happy,
like no I can take that awayfrom in it so like I just
see the winds in my els defintelyearlier. First. That's pure authenticity,
(14:01):
guys. And for your artists aretrying to come up, you might need
to take a page of Chief,you know, and do it for the
music. And I find fun andpassionate with in it. You want any
closing remarks, something you want totell the people before. We got a
new video out for one of mytracks, one of my singles from Pandorrhina.
It's titled Chin and Dan. Thatone there is movie, it's fireworks.
(14:26):
Go check it out. It's soon YouTube and once you run that,
the song will just be cake fromthen on mine. You can run
that up on any streaming platform thatyou want. But besides that, man,
Yo, love to all the peopleshowing support. Much appreciated, all
right, but thank you for joiningus and for me, thank you for
listening to the chat room. Thankyou listening to chat room. Chief.
You know. The album like yousaid, and Pandorwana will be on all
(14:50):
platforms it's an eight track album.It will only take you twenty minutes.
That's a drive to work, driveto wherever you will not regret it and
che Thank you for joining us andhope to see more of you in the
future. Thank you, sir,
What's Up, everybody? Welcome tothe Chatroom, a podcast dedicated with having
interviews with upcoming stars and influencers ofour generation. Please follow us on Facebook
and Instagram at the chatroom dot tcR and on Twitter at the chatroom underscore
TCR. Also, don't forget tobecome one of our valued Patreon members,
which allows you to unlock exclusive content. Why are also supporting this podcast?
(00:26):
Enjoy the episode. Good afternoon inthe morning, ladies and gentlemen. My
name is Cheff and we're back withanother episode of the Chatroom and with us
today. I'm not gonna lie toyou, ladies and germen. I'm extremely
excited about today's guests. We havenone other man. She knows say one
of the people she's what's good peoplethem? You know recently just dropped an
(00:52):
album. You recently just dropped analbum. It's straight fire. If you
haven't got if you haven't listened toit, you need to go listen to
under one that's going. So tell'sa little bit about some a lot of
people about if Gino White, Chief, Gino why chief? Hey man,
(01:14):
Sha? I like I like myhistory, you know, I like to
know who I am, what I'mabout I need to know them things.
So growing up, my granddad wouldalways tell me things about about Zimbabwe before
it was Zimbabwe, before he waseven Rhodesia, or how he was told
(01:34):
by his his elders. But anyways, cut a long story show. Yeah,
man, And the origin of thename Gutu is actually to the story
I can go into from another time. But when white people were told that,
(01:57):
like you know, this particular andthis coach Kutu, they couldn't pronounce
full words, so they shortened itto Kutu, which let on became Gutu.
And I just so happens, mygranddad was also a chief really,
so it being chief gud too.I just had to make a chief Kutu.
But that's long, so I justwent to the Chief Gino and yeah,
(02:20):
Chief Gino was born. All right, all right, that's actually crazy
because I'm from gut I didn't evenknow that whole backstory that's actually said.
So you learned something detail the timefor you, all right. So the
album just dropped. It just droppedtwenty one. This is what inspired trying
to achieve with this album, Like, what's what's the goal? Man?
(02:44):
If I'm being honest, if you. I just make music for me and
my boys, right, And thenthey put pressure on me to pre out
there to the people because they've beenenjoying it so much. They feel like,
let's get more people involved. Sothat's where we are completely. And
we started to cut you over theremen that you know what's actually crazy.
(03:09):
I have a question for you.Remember the zim Co next days, Yeah
to sixty you on? That isn'tit? I was, And I think
you got yourself palm, Nah,you're thinking about my little brother. He
oh, yeah, your brother.And then you had another episode but yeah,
(03:30):
pack is my little brother. Itis my younger brother. He had
more cloud on on. There waszim concks platforms than I do. I
went by p K, which ismy my government name. It's shot upernatural
mm hmm. So yeah, allmy close friends know me as p K.
(03:51):
That was way before music then,no man. But then I I
used to write poems. Really yeah, I'd write poems, but I'll make
it so I write all my poemsin The intention was just so I can
keep practicing my shaun mm hmm.That that was the whole thing behind it.
(04:13):
And one time someone told me tojust recite from over a beat.
Yeah, just started doing it moreand more and more, and before I
knew it, wearing studios making thesong for me and my boys playing them
and then yeah, they'll guss meup, man, tell me release the
thing and we drop it in herehere and there, here and there with
(04:34):
you know, the YouTube beats right, the best way. That's the best
way I could think about. Likeyou didn't want to do it. You're
just so good. Your friends arelike people. I need to hear this,
people need to hear this, soparticularly all the talk about your song
number three rot this one for thoseI haven't heard it, but that one
(04:59):
if that does and convinced you thatyou know the I don't know what because
this one spoke to me so inthe opening line, in the opening verse,
obviously you you sampled it off thebiggest Molls juicy and you said,
uh, this song is well everyholiday and where as a matter of fact,
(05:23):
why I got and still made itout and you got me there,
especially when you say, well Iended up that was August sixty, my
wife that that's just like briefly likemaybe two minutes the background like where you
(05:45):
grew up and then how you thenended up in the u K. So
like if you can do like aquick speed like a background story for that
one. Okay, So like I'vealready touched on my granddad being in touch
with his in where he's from,and you know, instilling that in myself.
From when I was like five yearsold, would always go Kussier every
(06:09):
single holiday. You'd go there,and when you're there, you know,
you do as others do, soyou actually get to experience life how the
kids in those particular areas live andit's a tough life. Man, tend
all them things there. I wouldsee me and the kudo you know,
(06:31):
yeah we we we did all themthings. And when Holly finishes, you
go back to Ai. I couldn'twait to go back to Ai. But
as I got older, got toabout grade seven, my parents came to
the UK and I got sent causethat's where I was all the time.
So then I got to really spenda lot of time there and I made
(06:53):
a lot of friends. I reallyexperienced life in its simplest form. Uh
I forward into form two second termmy visit came through, so then I
got shipped over to Chi to plan. Now that was a mad transition,
man, that was a mad transitionbecause it can imagine going from Noza to
(07:17):
this, I never cutting off ATMs, just you know, going from you
want to eat, go catch yourcheck to you don't even see it alive
in the UK, just seeing italready in a packet. So that was
that was a drastic change in lifestyle. So I feel like that had a
(07:39):
lot of influence and who I am, and that song was just reminiscing on
those memories that no nostyalgia. Iwas hoping to bring that people who have
experienced that. It was bad atthe time, but when you look back
at it now, yeah, that'sto childhood. Yeah, because I'm thinking
about like especially when you say anotherdog ure talking like so ye were they
(08:03):
happy with you? Listen to thesong? Yeah? Man, you know
I name drop a few people whenI when I show it to them,
like, yo, man, wereally did that. How do you still
remember all them things there? Likeit like my never when you go I'm
so fished by tickets all the wayfrom the Yeah, so what you said,
(08:30):
but you said you left when you'reabout fourteen, isn't it? Yeah
man thir thirteen thirteen, Yeah,so you were then about thirteen. Uh,
how anything goes when old and didn'tgo to a girl on the right,
(08:52):
you go on and you know Ishould go to look for work first,
as you know. So yeah Iwas. I would say I was
drinking like that, but yeah,I know it's my favorite song. It's
kind of I'm really fan boying rightnow, but it was. I'm really
(09:13):
enjoyed it. It was real nostalgic. It came back. It's different from
like a lot a lot Like Iwas talking to my other guys, like
the whole of the Chatter team,and we all were like on the same
page saying. The difference with theproblem a lot of zim rappers is they're
talking, oh, I'm making makingsix six figures living in a condo,
and do all the like, ohno, you're not doing that, but
(09:37):
you with your music. It waslike, I see that even when when
you're talking like to the when youwere saying now paying kind of any kind
of you were talking these extravagant fivehundred dollars bottles that no one really actually
pays. It's stuff we can allrelate to, and that's like, that's
(09:58):
something that's great. So when doit with just a little bit more about
the music. What what did yousay has been your biggest challenge music and
regards to making music and the musicout of the balancing music, work,
your life, out of your outyour family field. But all of them,
man, my family is so supportive. I want to do anything that
they just let me run with it. But I suppose my dad is heavy
(10:22):
on the music side, do youknow what I mean? My dad used
to be a djit, but Ifeel like I get a lot of influences
from him. My mom is justso easy going and laid back, so
she won't put too much pressure onme in that front. But I don't
do music to a living. Idid because it's fun. So a lot
(10:46):
of the times, the most challengingdifficult thing is what can I say?
No problem with producers, beat,someone saying here, you stole my beat,
none, none of that. Allthese features, none of it,
none of that. Sort of likemy biggest problem, I would say is
I can't even think of them.Bro. Everything is just if it was
(11:09):
like everying just clicks into place atthe right time, you know, like
right now I'm working with kind ofboy. Oh really a lot? Yeah,
we just linked up on Instagram Idon't have too many problems with too
many people because I don't take musicthat seriously. If someone says to me
(11:31):
x x y, I just say, oh, it is what it is.
While a lot of people try togo international, my main goal is
try to go national. You knowwhat I'm saying. So like, I
don't feel like I have to trytoo hard. I just have to be
true to myself here throughe to whatI know, because I feel like eventually
I will find the right crowd andI can relate to the people that the
(11:52):
people I want to relate to mymusic will relate to it. The biggest
problem might maybe getting it in touchwith them because a lot of people maybe
dates had to get to in inin certain locations, or if I put
my music out there, not manypeople can get to where the music is
at. Uh. But that's that'sthe question I would have to actually sit
(12:13):
down and really think about for meto keep you I agree. I can't
think of one I agree with onthe other getting music because the funny the
way I listened to the way Iactually found your music was I was listening
to one of other zimmers, theNBA, and after his song finished it,
not just shuffles to whatever song similarin that category. And your song
(12:35):
came up was driving, so Icouldn't. I hadn't put up a song.
I'm mixed, the didn't playing andnumber oh okay, oh oh,
ship just played it the whole waysthat that's pretty your music. I can
definitely speak to a lot of peopleagree with finding and getting in contact with
(12:58):
them might be difficult, but it'sthe only way I proms From here,
I one down, I still myexperience. We go on moving forward.
Yeah, man, So I feellike that's the problem that you know,
it will sort itself out, andyou know, I get more familiar with
the industry and I get a managerand we can start having actual strategies on
(13:18):
how we're going to roll out musicand take a little bit more seriously.
Then yeah, I can actually makea name for myself in the music team,
because yeah, I've just been solaid back with it, man,
I don't really stop to really scrutinize, like, what's not going right me?
I put a tracker, I getone hundred views. Do you know
(13:39):
how happy I am? Because Iwas happy for me to just listen to
it with just five for my boys. But if another twenty people can play
five more times bro as twenty peoplelistening to my voice, I am happy,
like no I can take that awayfrom in it so like I just
see the winds in my els defintelyearlier. First. That's pure authenticity,
(14:01):
guys. And for your artists aretrying to come up, you might need
to take a page of Chief,you know, and do it for the
music. And I find fun andpassionate with in it. You want any
closing remarks, something you want totell the people before. We got a
new video out for one of mytracks, one of my singles from Pandorrhina.
It's titled Chin and Dan. Thatone there is movie, it's fireworks.
(14:26):
Go check it out. It's soon YouTube and once you run that,
the song will just be cake fromthen on mine. You can run
that up on any streaming platform thatyou want. But besides that, man,
Yo, love to all the peopleshowing support. Much appreciated, all
right, but thank you for joiningus and for me, thank you for
listening to the chat room. Thankyou listening to chat room. Chief.
You know. The album like yousaid, and Pandorwana will be on all
(14:50):
platforms it's an eight track album.It will only take you twenty minutes.
That's a drive to work, driveto wherever you will not regret it and
che Thank you for joining us andhope to see more of you in the
future. Thank you, sir,
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