If you are asked to mention ten successful artists in Africa, in terms of endorsements, wealth, influence and fan base, you will find yourself with a list that mostly comprises of singers rather than rappers. Why? I have asked Malawian rapper and superstar Tay Grin and he has shared with me the reason behind it.
“That’s very interesting cause I had this exact chat with my producer the other day and he said it seems I am singing more with my new project and abandoning rap,” he says.
“I think that with singers it’s easier to create melodies that are very catchy and easy to memorize. Even the biggest rap songs on the continent all had catchy melodies and great rhythm. I think as rappers we tend to say too much on songs and people just want to have fun, they can’t be bothered to memorize long verses lol… They just want to dance and singers provide that time after time,” he added.
But Tay thinks African hip hop has evolved tremendously from being perceived as ‘devil’s music’ to becoming a more commercially appreciated genre.
“When I started music about 11 years ago hip hop was frowned upon. It was literally perceived as the Devils music. Music that glorified violence, drugs, money and sex,” says Tay.
“In my country you did music if you failed in school and had nothing to do. All this started to change when we started to fuse cultural elements in our music. When we told stories that glorified our culture and promoted our heritage. I am known as the “Nyau King” back home and the CHEWA Heritage Foundation awarded me last year for preserving and promoting the chewa culture through my music. So we have moved from and era where parents tried to stop their children from doing music to a state where it now has the highest rotation on radios, clubs, engagement parties and even weddings. When I look to other countries you can also see that Hip Hop artists are making major strides and creating history.”
Tay recently released ‘Chipapapa’ in which he features Nigerian superstar, 2 Face Idibia.
