Nutty O has finally released his sophomore album, Different Root. Fifteen tracks. Takura, Gemma Griffiths, Bugle, Holy Ten, Kinnah, Atenda Chinx and Nigeria's Fido on the feature list.
Five years after Mustard Seed announced him as one of Zimbabwe's most complete dancehall voices, the question was never whether Nutty O could make another good album. The question was whether he could make a different one.
The answer, after a full listen, is complicated.
Same Soil, Different Root: Themes and Songwriting
Thematically, Different Root follows a near-identical blueprint to Mustard Seed. There are love songs praising a lover. There are songs of faith, grace and gratitude. And there is a heavy dose of trials, tribulation and overcoming hardship, the motivational core that has defined Nutty O's writing since day one.
From that basis, there is no new innovation here. But should there be?
It is a fair question to ask of an artist this gifted. There is, for instance, not a single heartbreak record on the album, just more perseverance music. Nutty O has clearly found his lane and is comfortable in it, and the execution is so assured that you can forgive the repetition. Still, a writer of his calibre exploring romantic loss, doubt or contradiction could have added a dimension this album never quite reaches.
The Sound: Nutty O's Most Daring Production Yet
Where Different Root does break new ground is sonically. DJ Tamuka and the production team have built something noticeably more adventurous than Nutty O's previous work. The bulk of the album follows familiar patterns, but a handful of records push well outside the Zimdancehall comfort zone:
- "Darling" featuring Takura: the collaboration everyone hoped for delivers, two of Zimbabwe's finest finding real chemistry.
- "Mai Maria" featuring Gemma Griffiths: a gorgeous record that lets both artists stretch.
- "Everything is Possible" featuring Bugle: the Jamaican link-up that roots the album back in reggae tradition.
- "Chero Iripo": the solo standout and arguably the album's most experimental moment.
For a mainstream Zimbabwean artist, this is daring. Younger, lesser-known acts experiment all the time; mainstream names usually chase a sound that is palatable at home. Nutty O is clearly campaigning for the international market with this album, and you can hear the intention in every polished mix. Whether he truly succeeds, only time will tell. But the project is unmistakably geared towards that goal.
That said, while the mixing and mastering here is good by our standards, it is still not comparable to what is being done in Afrobeats, where most of the big records are mixed in America by engineers like Leandro "Dro" Hidalgo, whose fingerprints are on hits by Davido, Wizkid, Tyla, Ayra Starr and others. There is still an audible gap, and closing it would make a real difference if the team decided to invest in learning or outsourcing in that regard. The frustrating part is that the gap will not be acknowledged, and that refusal to acknowledge it is the actual issue.
The International Question: Can You Go Global by Sounding Global?
Here lies the album's central tension. Nutty O's route to the international market appears to be sounding international, and that comes with a familiar risk. When Nasty C went to America and tried to out-rap the Americans, it did not work, because imitation rarely beats the original on the original's home turf.
To be fair, Nutty O's lane has always been a cosmopolitan brand of dancehall, so we cannot entirely blame him for staying in it. And the harder question is: what would an "original" Zimbabwean sound even be for him to export? That is exactly why it is slightly disappointing that an artist-producer pairing as experienced as Nutty O and DJ Tamuka did not attempt to answer it. If anyone in Zim music has the musical maturity to invent something, it is these two.
The Rollout: The Best We Have Seen From Zimbabwe, With Caveats
Credit where it is due: this is the most professional album rollout we have seen from a Zimbabwean project, full stop. The visualiser concept on YouTube is creative and gives every track a visual identity, even if some on-screen lyrics contain errors that should have been caught.
But if Nutty O is competing internationally, we have to measure him internationally, and by that standard there are gaps:
- No synced lyrics on Apple Music or Spotify at launch, a basic expectation for an "international" release.
- The streaming tracklist is quietly manipulated. Last year's single "Too Much" appears twice (once as the Fido remix up top and again as the closing track), clearly to inflate streams. Cardi B pulled the same trick and was criticised for it. What makes it sneaky here is that the official tracklist never advertised it.
- No songwriter credits anywhere, which is strange when a record like "Loud" sounds like it carries outside writing. If you are modelling yourself on international releases, credits and properly written YouTube descriptions are part of the package.
The Nigeria Door: Fido, Takura and Market Reality
The Fido collaboration on "Too Much" should be this album's biggest international play, and yet the verse is underwhelming. It feels less like a curated feature and more like whoever was available without asking for much.
Context matters here, and I say this from first-hand experience. I spent time in Nigeria and was in the room with Oxlade having a conversation about music when, unprompted, he name-dropped Takura. Separately, during a studio session with Marvey Muzique (Davido's producer), Marvey not only name-dropped Takura but mentioned that he had actually been sending beat packs to Takura. Two different rooms, two different conversations, one Zimbabwean name. That tells you the only Zim artist with genuine recognition in Lagos right now is Takura, and of course Davido has posted him before. Fido, by Nigerian standards, is considered a C-rated artist or a lower B-tier artist at best, so the commercial impact of this collaboration may be limited beyond the fact that we know one or two of his songs.
Still, the door into the Nigerian market matters more than any single verse. Being close to Fido gives Nutty O a line to almost anyone else in that industry, since they all know Fido there, and that access could genuinely help down the line. But as with everything else in that market, they would still have to pay to turn access into output. It is an entrance, and entrances compound.
The UK Play: London After Lagos
Equally commendable is Nutty O taking this album launch to the UK, which puts him in rooms and spaces where he can actually interact with other artists. We have already seen him linking up with UK-based acts during the rollout, including Afrobeats media powerhouse Adesope Olajide (ShopsyDoo), the kind of connection that comes with valuable introductions.
But let us be honest about what an introduction is worth. Having spent time in Nigeria shooting six music videos and working with industry professionals, I can tell you an introduction only starts the conversation. Nine times out of ten, you still have to pay to get anything done. That said, to the average Zimbabwean watching Nutty O occupy the same spaces as those acts, that alone is a win, and perception has its own currency.
The smart money says another Adesope podcast session is coming, which would be Nutty O's second, and strategically, the UK play makes sense. After Lagos, London is the capital city of Afrobeats. Expect a wave of Zimbabwean artists to follow this same route in the coming years. The only ceiling, as always, will be funding: money ultimately decides which rooms you can get into and how long you can stay in them.
Visuals: Time to Take a Page From Shashl's Book
If there is one area where the whole operation still lags, it is music videos. Zimbabwe's most consistent and best-performing visual artist right now is Shashl, and Nutty O's team would do well to study her output. Right now the visuals are not competing with even the weakest offerings coming out of Nigeria, and for an album with international ambitions, that gap has to close.
Mustard Seed's Long Shadow
So where does Different Root rank? Context is everything. Mustard Seed dropped during COVID, when the whole world was stuck at home with nothing to do but listen: a perfect storm of attention. Different Root arrives in a noisier world, and while it is a clear step up from the underwhelming Cornerstone mixtape, it does not surpass its predecessor.
What it does prove is that the man who made Mustard Seed is still very much here. Nutty O may always live in that album's shadow, but this project shows he has the capacity to maintain his level, arguably the highest and most consistent level in Zimbabwean music right now.
There is nothing wrong with this project, and honestly, I did not expect more than this. For Nutty O to truly go international, talent alone will not open the remaining doors; serious funding will. He has gone remarkably far on pure merit. What he needs now is investment. In the meantime, Zimbabwe finally has an artist genuinely representing us on that stage, with a fanbase rooting loudly for him. That counts for something.
The Verdict
- Music: 7.5/10: polished, intentional, occasionally daring, thematically safe.
- Overall, factoring in the rollout: 8/10: the best-executed Zimbabwean release campaign to date.
- Mustard Seed remains a strong 9/10.
Different Root is the best album Zimbabwe has produced this year. It just is not the international breakthrough it wants to be. Yet. We will be watching how it pans out.
Stream it. Then tell me your rating in the comments.
Different Root is out now on all platforms.
Listen to Teemak
Afrobeat, Amapiano and Sungura guitar out of Harare. Start with the Mavambo EP or the Disemba single.