Khaligraph Is Singing……Rabbit Is Singing… Are Kenyan Rappers Going Soft Or What? Well..This Is Why They Are Composing Ballards Instead Of Doing Hardcore Rap Songs
Every year, Ghostface Killah, puts out a list of the 10 softest rapper in the game. Killah is a member of the Wu Tang Clan, one of the most celebrated hip hop groups of all time. In America, soft rappers and hardcore rappers are adversarial. Soft rappers are always accused of killing ‘hip hop’. But they are still there, lots of them and there are plenty of reasons behind that.
What’s the definition of a soft rapper? According to XXL and Hip Hop Weekly, a soft rapper is one who does a song instead of a rap song. And what the hell is the difference between a song and a rap song? A song is melodical while a rap song is all bars. In a rap song, only the chorus can bear the exception of being melodical. What we quickly learn here is that one doesn’t have to sing in order for the music to be a song. Khaligraph’s latest track ’Songea’ is a song and so is Rabbit’s new track featuring Rich Mavoko dubbed ‘Njoo’.
Can we then safely conclude that Kenyan rappers are going soft? Well, yes. Apart from Kichinjio and Kafiri Rabbit’s latest works are all songs. Khaligraph too has taken a huge leap from the hardcore track ‘Embesha’ to the bongoish track ‘Songea’. I mean Khaligraph’s new track is so TZ that for a moment I thought Ali Kiba would pop up and shout ‘roho yanguuuuu mamaaaa.’ And you can still remember ‘Come Dada’ right? I bet you can, if you persevered through it. I never thought I’d hear Khali sing but he has Should we all be worried? Is he trying to pull a Diamond Platinuumz or something?
I’ve always been a fan of…..
…..both Khaligraph and Rabbit. Some time back, I even laid out solid reasons why Khali was a top dawg in hip hop arts while Octo was just a novice. I said it all in the article Why Khaligraph Is And Will Always Be A Better Rapper Than Octopizzo’ and as a result, the number nane rapper blocked me on Twitter. It’s alright though, I don’t wanna do ‘something for you’ Octo.
What is wrong with rappers being ‘soft’? Should we discredit talented musicians simply because they’re ‘soft’.. Well, no. Khaligraph and Rabbit are doing songs because they want to completely sell out. Not everyone wants to listen to tough bars about the hood and the police. Underground rappers understand that concisely. .
A rapper like Drake gets music out constantly because he’s ‘soft’. He can ‘chipo’ a girl and rap about it. Why? What does being ‘soft’ do to his talent? What does it hinder? What would you prefer? The same regurgitated nonsense about lap dances, strippers and swag? Drake’s doing so well right now because even ‘xoxo’ girls can relate to his music. It’s the reason he has sold over 500,000 mixtapes in one week. Hardcore rappers can never manage such a feat
In fact, my biggest beef with Drake is when he strays away from being soft! I do not want to hear him talk about guns and shoot outs. I want him to do songs.’ That’s where he excels. Discrediting him because he isn’t murking thugs from ‘round the block is lame.?
Rabbit and Khaligraph are incorporating melody into their sounds because that’s what hot right now. Octopizzo is doing it too. Bongo artistes are making a kill with it and so are artistes such as Jaguar and Sauti Sol.
So there’s no fault in a rapper doing songs. The only crime is for a rapper to sing. Khaligraph should have featured a singer in his latest track ‘Songea’. There are parts where he sings and he doesn’t sound so good. He should have stuck to his solid-quick flow while a singer did the other work. However, the track is a great piece of work generally. It’s awesome to see artistes being bold and trying out new sounds without being sure of the outcomes. Rabbit too should stick with the toughness of ‘Kichinjio’ bust still do as many songs as he wants to.
Compose ballads and even do rock songs or Afro beats if you want but stick to rapping no matter what. Because that’s what you are – a rapper. Just don’t sing. Unless you are Kanye West
