''Shimaliw' Osatana'' is the debut album by

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

kwaito Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, between the late 1980s and 1990s. It is a sound that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...

master

The Dogg Martin Morocky (born 31 March 1983), known by his stage name as The Dogg (or King TeeDee), is a Namibian musician. Considered a Kwaito artist, his debut album, '' Shimaliw' Osatana'', was released in 2004 to mixed reviews. The Dogg was part of ...

, released in February 2004 through RC-Ghetto Records. ''Shimaliw' Osatana'' was the first full length kwaito album released in Namibia. The album was immediately hailed as a

masterpiece A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

by several critics, and is today one of the most celebrated and influential albums in Namibia. ''Shimaliw' Osatana'' (in

Oshiwambo The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshi ...

; ''Money Is Evil''), established The Dogg as one of the most profound lyricists in Namibia, introducing his signature rough attitude style.

Overview

''Shimaliw' Osatana'' combines hardcore hitting kwaito with socially meaningful lyrics. It was released at a time when Namibia was lacking potential musician. The album represents one of the most influential kwaito albums of Namibia, and is considered an archetypal album of Namibia's kwaito genre. The album won the best album award, best kwaito song, and artist of the year at the 2004 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. It gave Dogg his second chance to win the artist of the year award. ''Shimaliw' Osatana'' is also consider as Dogg's best album by several critics. The album also earned

comparison to

Mandoza Mduduzi Thembinkosi Edmund Tshabalala (17 January 1978 – 18 September 2016), also known as Mandoza, was a South African singer-songwriter and kwaito recording artist. He was known for his contributions to the kwaito genre and his numerous hi ...

and DMX, due to his rough voice.

Production and guest

The album was produced by Elvo and Big Ben. Big Ben produced two songs while Elvo produced the rest. There are no guest appearances on the album. Although Gazza contributes background chorus supporting-vocals on ''"Mamma"'', he was not credited as a guest. Elvo also mixed the entire album. The album holds a record of being Dogg's only album without a guest.

Track listing

2004 debut albums The Dogg albums Albums produced by Elvo {{kwaito-album-stub