WHOZ MWAFRIKA: DEBATE THAT WAS IN THE PAPERS THIS WAS MY SAY

Early this year there was a debate on who Mwaf was I sent this to Buzz but it was neva published coz the same day it was to appear they had an Interview with Mwaf.

I have been following the debate from readers on Mwafrika. The very first time i saw a letter from a reader asking whether Mwafrika was a celeb or not, i was like "do i write back or not?" Then i thought it wasnt worth it but subsequent letters on the same have made me change my mind.

First I'd like to define who a celebrity is. I would define a celeb as a person who is widely known, a state of being widely acclaimed or simply a famous person. Be it a sports, music, art, media, politics or any other field. You can also be famous because of your looks or behaviour. Rasta, Wacucu, Wanugu were also celebs if we go by that defination.

To tackle the issue at hand, I'll say who Mwafrika is and then what underground hip hop is so that we can understand why he is a celebrity.I have never been upclose with Mwafrika but I know him for the last three years for killing mics while freestyling at 98.4 blowing up live freestyle battles by ripping wack rappers, knocking out a plethora of independent releases in acapella creating a wave of respect and intergrity withing the local rap circles. Through his show 'The Joint' he has built a vast nationalwide loyal fun base.He rocks the mic with an array of witty punchlines and rhymes that are finished like furniture enamel.Most memorable mcees posses wisdom, skill, mystique, style, tight flow, great timing, rhythmic delivery, dope voice, exceptional inflection, perfect clarity and believe me Mwaf is all that if u have seen/heard him battle.

Underground rap is a postmodern style of music borne of the impoverished neighborhoods and wallows in depth perception and substance with little or no regard for the mainstream. It also tends to keep away from major labels and its artists are mainly idependent. It can also be said its not so radio friendly despite it being popular in 'streets'.

Mwafrika can be categorised into underground rap coz he can never work with a label like Blu Zebra, Ogopa and does not rap about alcohol, clubing and women as other musician have choosen. One of the reasons why is he called the lord of the underground is because he is one of the best that the genre has locally having won numerous battles. Another reason is because in his show, most of the music he plays is hardcore and gangsta which are core to the underground rather than mainstream rap.

Being an underground artists does not mean that you are underground as a person. For example, Mashifta, Kshaka etc are very much known but their music can be classified as underground.

Those who say Mwaf is not known can be called 'general rap consumer' who defined as one who happens not to be very good at playing catch up. as in they do not see metaphors, skill, messages, sylabels, intlectual phrases, articulation so on and so on......mostly what is visible to them is cheap rhymes. To a general rap consumer, Nameless, Prezzo, The Vultures, Logombas are the local equivalents of NWA, Tribe Called Quest, Tupac, Biggie, Nas, Common, Canibus and to them, 50 Cent is the best thing since the invetion of the wheel.

Hate it or love it Mwaf is here to stay and is very famous to genuine hip hop funs.