8L

8L
8L
Born	Blessed Zikhali
Nationality	Zimbabwe
Occupation	Musician;
Known for	Being a Musician

8L is a Zimbabwean hip hop artist. He is known for his hit song Mainini which features Zimdancehall artist Tocky Vibes.

Background

8L was born Blessing Zikhali and grew up in Kwekwe.^[1]

Education

He did his high school in Kwekwe before moving to the University of Zimbabwe where he studied for his first degree in Statistics. He boasts that he is the most educated rapper with 2 masters’ degrees and works as a Research, Monitoring and Evaluation specialist for an international firm.^[1]

Career

8L had his first studio session in 2004 at Tich Mataz studio in Highlands when someone asked for a verse and he did freestyle. He mentions that he was more of a freestyle artist but only started recording in 2011.At the time, 8L says he recorded a good number of songs but didn’t release them on radio. His 2013 compilation album titled Fiery Draft was a major hit on the hip hop scene and he went on to record Cypher Continues which featured Club Bangers. He has worked with the likes of Noble Styles, T Gonz, Smylie, Dobba Don and Tererai Mugwadi.^[2]

Discography

Singles

Mainini ft Tocky Vibes

Katarina

Scandals

Stealing Song Allegations

He was accused of ‘stealing’ and sampling his hit song Mainini from a Ghanaian artiste Sarkodie but he however denied the allegations saying that he has never heard of the popular artist. However the song by the Ghanaian artiste has the same instrumentation and beat with 8L’s hit song.^[3]