Fungai No Way Out Interview

Fungai is a Zimbabwe-Born Rising Independent Artist Hailing from Melbourne

Rising Independent Zimbabwe-born Melbourne based artist Fungai unveils his highly anticipated music video for his single 'No Way Out' featuring Maxshotta, set to be released on October 18th. The visuals carry the same strong political message the young artists conveyed with the single earlier this year, with scenes of urban life in Melbourne's Western suburbs and footage from their home country of Zimbabwe.

The music video shows Fungai's natural-born talent, giving a deeper perspective on his message to never lose hope, regardless of how tough life can be. In an overwhelming market of 'new wave' rappers and a lack of substance and subject matter, Fungai hopes to break through the noise and shine a light on real problems that the people of Zimbabwe face today, becoming the voice of the voiceless for his home country.

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MaxShotta solidifies the strong message from Fungai, dwelling on his past struggles and offering a helping hand to those that feel there may be no way out.

Already building a strong presence in the ever-growing Melbourne hip-hop scene and being featured on international blogs like NewH20, and Indiehiphop.com, Fungai plans to keep strong in faith and build his career to new heights just like his idol Lecrae, who has used his success as a platform to help our the less fortunate. He also hopes to keep connecting his culture with the world which he has already been recognised for, receiving a Zimbabwean Achievers award for 'Artist of the Year' in 2018.

Interview with Fungai

Question: How would you describe your music?

Fungai: To be honest my sound is a bit hard to pin down to a certain category because I try to have no two songs sounding the same. Most importantly my music is an extension of me, where I am from and the things I have seen and experienced. My music is me.


Question: Can you tell us about No Way Out?

Fungai: No way out was me and Maxx Shotta shedding insight on some of the injustice we see happening in the world. Though it's based on Zimbabwe where we come from these are issues that can be seen all around the world. Though it may feel like there is no way out giving up is never an option regardless of how tough things may get pressure creates diamonds and fire refines gold, while sharing our story we wanted to motivate and encourage those that maybe facing tough situations.


Question: What inspired you to write No Way Out?

Fungai: Max Shotta and I are actually related and we were at a family BBQ just hanging out and we started talking about the economic and political situation back home and the idea came about to make it a song so we got to work instantly.

Question: Can you tell us about the music video for No Way Out?

Fungai: The video speaks for itself really but in the last two years in Zimbabwe, we have experienced natural disasters a change of government change of currency and a whole lot of other things that we try to show in the clip. Big shout out to Brayden Fun Films and Tifman Pro who shot and edited the video and executed the vision I had for it.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Fungai: I can't say I prefer one over the other, they are both equally important. The creative process of making a song and recording it is super dope and I guess the performance is like that vision manifested and actually seeing people enjoying it is equally as great.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Fungai: That would probably be my song "Juice", I usually bring juices boxes with me and we throw them into the crowd. It always gets people super happy like who doesn't love free juice?


Question: If you could have anyone, in the world, attend a show, who would it be?

Fungai: That would probably be my parents because they have been there since my musical journey started but they haven't seen me perform in possibly ten years so it would be super cool to have them there. Secondly, I'd like to say all my family in Zimbabwe who haven't had the chance to see me perform either. One of my dreams is to sell out a show in my hometown of Harare.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?
Fungai: Farai Katiyo, Bee Makina, Ace Hood, Lecrae, Reconcile and Andy Mineo to name a few.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Fungai: There was a guy named Macadosis who was an up and coming rapper at the time who saw me and some friends rapping and decided to help us get started by finding us or first show and helping us write our first song 14 years ago. I'm only 23 but it feels like I have been doing this forever and honestly can't picture myself doing anything else.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Fungai: Off the top of my head I'd like to say Lecrae, Andy Mineo, AceHood, Dvsn Wale and Kirk Franklin are at the top of my list.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Fungai: A typical day involves listening to loads of music silent time to pray and meditate and songwriting even if I create nothing good it's still good practice.


Question: Can you share your socials?

Fungai: I mainly use Instagram @coolestrapperever

Interview by Brooke Hunter