Two rappers from northern Ontario have relocated to Barrie in the hopes of creating a new “vibe” in the city.
Adrian Chitohwa, 21, and Tatenda Dune, 18 — also known as Lil Tenda and Le0 — have been making a name for themselves in their hometown of Sudbury over the last few years, but with a new album officially hitting the street last night, they decided to head south in an effort to try to get their music to an even wider audience.
“We want to create the same kind of buzz we had up in Sudbury down here in Barrie. People know about our music down here already, but now we want to spread it around the whole GTA, too,” Dune says.
The partnership began after Chitohwa saw Dune perform, telling BarrieToday he approached him to see about working together on a new single.
“I started making music before he did, and had about three or four singles. On my next single, I saw him and he showed interest in the music, so I decided to see if we could do a song together,” Chitohwa says. “One day we just played a beat… and I kind of liked his flow and everything just came together from there.”
Their first song, Death Walk, was released in November 2020. Chitohwa then released an EP featuring Lil Tenda, followed by the release of several singles together. Dune described their debut album, With Regards, as “some of the best work” they have released to date.
Although the pair describe themselves as rappers, they say their sound is continuing to evolve.
“That’s how we started off, but now, moving into this new album, the song Moving Great was more of a melodic, kind of rap song. We released a song called So What after that, which is an Afro-beats song. This album has a mix (of styles). Half of the album is more rap, (but) there’s some melody in there, while the second half of the album has more to do with slow R&B music,” Chitohwa says.
When writing music, Chitohwa and Dune say they are typically inspired by what’s happening in their own lives. The song Moving Great, noted Dune, is a track about working to put all the tough times they’ve been through behind them, something everyone can relate to after living through the COVID-19 pandemic, while So What is a more of a “catchy, family-friendly, Afro-beat track.”
With the release of the new album, the musicians are hoping to not only get their music to as many ears as possible, but also hope to help bring a broader awareness to the rap and hip hop music scene to Barrie.
“I’ve never really seen anything music-wise going on (here). It just doesn’t seem like there’s a culture change here yet. … I just haven’t seen a lot of artists down here, so (we want) to be able to do that down here and create a culture down here, a new vibe and put it more on the map,” Dune says.
