I won't be what other Xhosa rappers were. You can't separate me from it or take just me. And as Yanga Chief recently expressed on Twitter, "I stand for Xhosa rap. While they are all making individual strides, they are also supportive of each other's moves and often collaborate with one another. They have adopted trap flows and cadences, but are spitting their humorous and pompous lines in their native language of isiXhosa. Recently, the Xhosa rap scene has been reinvigorated by rappers who are influenced by the current soundscapes of hip-hop.
#SOUTH AFRICAN HIP HOP NEWS CRACKED#
The rappers were highly versed in social commentary, as well as occasional love songs, mostly on boom bap and soulful beats.ĭespite it being loved and championed in the provinces of Western Cape and Eastern Cape, where plenty of Xhosa people reside, spaza never fully cracked into the mainstream, nationally. Its torchbearers included Driemanskap, Rattex, Kanyi Mavi, Maxhoseni, Backyard Crew, Naked Mind etc.
The subgenre of rap is often cited to have been pioneered in Cape Town circa 2005. Chief's 2019 EP Becoming a Pop Star won the Best South African Hip Hop Album category at the 2020 SAMAs (South African Music Awards), a feat previously achieved by iFani's debut album I Believes In Me in 2014.īefore any of these achievements though, Xhosa rap was stiffened by a style popularly known as spaza (or ispaza). Since that period, the presence of Xhosa rappers has gradually increased, with talented director-rapper Yanga Chief being the current leading voice. Until recently.īetween the years 20, iFani was the lone Xhosa rapper within the mainstream of South African hip-hop. While other widely spoken South African languages such as isiZulu, Sesotho, Setswana and Afrikaans have been widely represented, in comparison, isiXhosa hasn't had a hold on the game. Young rappers from the Western Cape and Eastern Cape such as Dee Koala, Bravo Le Roux, Flash Ikumkani and many others are getting nationwide recognition for their distinct Xhosa raps.
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