LOS ANGELES-BASED Zimbabwean musician-cum-producer Tinashe “Bantu” Sibanda and fellow artiste Philip “Dr Chaii” Kembo are currently riding on the crescent of a wave following the release of their album titled Coming To America Vol 1. BY FREEMAN MAKOPA Both artistes have been trending in foreign lands, producing hit tracks that have taken the industry by storm. Bantu told NewsDay Life Style that they were trying to bring joy to their fans and it had always been his dream to reach greater heights. “We spent a year working on this compilation. It’s been a crazy ride. We must have made over 30 songs. Having grown up in Zimbabwe, we were exposed to so many different genres and rhythms. Coming to America Vol 1 is a fusion of Afro-Caribbean inspired sounds from the perspective of two Zimbabweans and we are looking forward to continue making great hits in future,” he said. He said he took pride in that he was flying his home country flag high in a foreign country. “I feel blessed to be one of the Zimbabweans to be raising our flag high and have done tracks that have made it to the Grammy Awards nomination list and right now I have worked with Dr Chaii on this EP,” he said. Bantu’s multicultural background is evident on every song. He has worked with some of the biggest names in America’s music industry including Nicki Minaj and Latinx super star Anuel AA for the track Familia which features on the soundtrack of the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The song has racked up over 74 million streams on Spotify. Dr Chaii, a Grammy-nominated record producer and songwriter, has co-produced and co-written songs for top music acts including Sean Paul, Pitbull, Chris Brown, Camila Cabello, Jason Derulo, Dua Lipa and French Montana. Born and raised in Harare, Dr Chaii started making beats at the age of 13 when a good friend introduced him to the programme FL Studio. He went on to pursue a degree in Marketing and Advertising while making music as a hobby. Bantu has released a string of singles since 2019. His previous drops “DiCaprio” and “Gucci Cranberry” also feature Dr Chaii.