Category: Student Projects

These are posts that were written by students

Posted in Artist Profiles, South Africa, Student Projects

#Uber2daCrib

Posted on by landinneal

  1.  If I heard this come on the radio in my car I would not turn the station.
  2. This is one of those songs that when it comes on everyone just vibes to it.

V-Way was one of the Top 18 contestants in X-factor South Africa 2014. He was the last standing rapper in the competition who garnered praise and appreciation from the likes of Oskido during his run. With a flow that glides over any beat effortlessly combining vernacular and English lyricism he creates an energetic and locally infused brand of music. He is a member of the hopeboyclub and founder of Pretoria’s very own Only The Illest (OTI) hip hop crew.

V-Way The Hero is definitely a ladies’ man. Most of his songs are anthems that celebrate women of every shape and size, school of thought, skin color and religion. The beat produced by Taurus The Mind is a funky throwback to hip-hop’s hey day with the crisp production quality of a 2017 jam. #Uber2DaCrib is shout out to all the ladies who make such a good impression that you can’t help but uber them to the crib. This jam is set to prime hip-hop dance floors for the summer.

With the reference with some hip hop icon’s like French Montana and Flo Rida. V-Way clearly has confidence in his music career. I think he should be very confident in his career with a catchy song like this one if he keeps producing “popping” hits he should be headed to the top in no time. I will be on a look out for more music by V-Way I always need a song to dance around the house while I’m cleaning or just in the mood to listen to some chill music. You can never have too many songs where you can just turn them on and just let them play on repeat.

Social Media:

Download #Uber2DaCrib
Posted in Artist Profiles, South Africa, Student Projects

Everyone Needs To STAY WOKE on The Artist Dee Wyz

Posted on by landinneal

Link to Dee Wyz- Stay Woke https://soundcloud.com/chauffeured-dream/dee-wyz-stay-woke

Stay Woke-

/stā/ /wōk/

Deriving from “stay awake,” to stay woke is to keep informed of the storm going on around you in times of turmoil and conflict.

 

Dee Wyz is a 19 year old South African artist. I had the pleasure of listening to his song Stay Woke. When I first listened to the song the beat caught my attention IMMEDIATELY.  He first starts off the song by repeated “Stay Woke’ x8, since this is a very common term that my peers and I use, I had to keep listening. The song tells the life story about the hard times Dee Wyz has been through. I feel this song could be considered a pick me up, for those who are going through the same or similar situations. Since Dee the age of 3 Dee’s experiences have all helped him become the amazing artist he is today.

This is the type of music I enjoy listening to. Artist that sings/raps about REAL life experiences make REAL music! The amount of personal information Dee exposes in this song means he isn’t afraid to share his journey to success. This song could come off as vulnerable but that is not the case at all. He is sharing his story to tell the listeners that you don’t have to be stuck in your situation. I would definitely be looking out for more music by Dee Wyz, and Stay Woke has just been added to my “fave song” list. He is an artist that everyone is to look out for.

No matter what you are going through remember to always “STAY WOKE,” being aware of situations means you have taken the first step in realizing that change needs to be made. Never let anyone determine your destiny for you. Your life is yours and you’re the only one who can make it better for YOURself.

Dee Wyz Twitter: https://twitter.com/officialdeewyz/media

Posted in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South Africa, Student Projects

Artist Music Review: “KMG” and “Yung Swiss”

Posted on by raisadorsainville

I had the pleasure to review a song under Kalakuta music, which is the only Pan African and bilingual record label in the Ivory coast. This song is called “My Lady” by KMG, a group, featuring “EZZDEAN DUANE” an artist, and collaboration with “MALA ADAMO”, a comedian. This was interesting to listen to since it consisted of lyrics in english, french and yoruba. Since I am not too familiar with understanding french or yoruba, I used my context clues to figure out what the lyrics meant while watching the video and it was quite funny to observe. The comedian in collaboration with the group brought a comedic feel to the scenes he was featured in which made me laugh out loud. Also, the lyrics were quite catchy. I caught myself saying the lyrics towards the end of the video even though I didn’t know what they meant, which not to mention, meshed pretty well with the Afrobeat in the background. Overall, KMG created a pretty cool song I will definitely “bump” to in the future!

As for the second reviewed artist “Yung Swiss”, his two songs were great! One song is called “For the Nation” and the other is “Don’t Go There” featuring “Casino”. They both had a mix of R&B/Hip Hop feel to them. My favorite song out of the two is, “Don’t Go There” mostly because of the beat. If I like a beat to a song, no matter how good the lyrics are, I always find myself putting the song on repeat. This song definitely had one of those types of beats. The lyrics were also quite catchy too. I’ve played it about five times already writing this post! Bravo to Yung Swiss, I’m a new fan and will inquire about the rest of his work and give him a listen!

Here’s the link to KMG’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O27MbmreW1U&t=9s

Here’s the streaming link to Yung Swiss’s two songs: https://www.audiomack.com/album/playground-productions/for-the-nation

Featured Images of Artists:

Yung Swiss: 

KMG: 

Posted in Diaspora, South Africa, Student Projects

AKA – Congratulate Vs. Drake – Thank Me Now

Posted on by postsbyaaron

In terms of style and delivery AKA is almost synonymous with Jay Z in that their familiar rap patterns let you know that this track is about to be amazing. Meanwhile Drake has developed his own sound within Young Money under Lil Wayne and with a similar connotation to the naming of the tracks we can see that Thank me Now would be just as effective as Congratulate me. In Congratulate me AKA has to take the time to congratulate himself for how far he’s made since he started, Meanwhile, Drake in thank me now comes of as a little more cocky and prepared, thanking the listener directly and giving them ample opportunity to thank him for a song well done. While the topics are very similar, as previously dictated in the post, the way they give permission to give them thanks and a pat on the back for a job well done, couldn’t be any more different in their delivery. “Hold your applause, this is your song, not mine,” “On the bed, on the floor, now congratulate me.” The songs are also a critical look at self from Drake and AKA analyzing the lives that they lead up to this point in their respective careers. As can be expected of any performance art there are times that an artist can perform in front of 40 people or 400 people either way they need to perform as if they’ve packed out Maddison Square Garden. There is also the process of becoming a household name which takes not only time but proper preparation and relationships. Now that AKA can be heard on the radio as well as Drake, at least in the context of this post, you can feel the similar motif which is simply support and congratulate both artist on a job well done.

AKA – Congratulate

Drake – Thank Me Now

Posted in Ghana, Student Projects

Ghana’s Native Son a review of Blitz the Ambassador’s Make you No Forget

Posted on by postsbyaaron

Bearing a upbeat boom-bap style Make you No Forget starts with an infectious, head-bopping beat and a hard hitting rhythm. Shortly after the song begins Blitz brings us in with the chorus, “Police Corruption, they steal the election, brutality my brothers don’t get no option, thats why you don’t forget where you come from.” The verse then expands on the concepts of police corruption and how the kids of Ghana back in the 1990’s were worried if they were going to grow up or not. Also, what made it hard to forget where you’re from were the myriad of 90’s references to tv shows, and consequently ended up referring to Roger Milla, famous Cameroonian soccer player, bringing where he was from to the 1990 World cup with his signature celebratory dance, or better yet referring to Ivory Coast goalkeeper Alain Gouaméné stopping Ghana from winning the 1992 African cup of Nations with an amazing save, which Ghanaians attributed to the use of JuJu. Starting the next part of the chorus Blitz says that “As the weather gets hot, and the cops get hungry for busting people, we still harbor resentment towards them, whether they like it or not. Next verse brings you in with the kids from the first verse all grown up. They reminisce about the Motown, where they went to school, Gari and Shito, which was a snack spread that was popular in the 90s that got them through, Night clubs for Osu, where they went to party with the wrong attire and subsequently wasted time going back home to change to get in, only to realize that they should have just stayed home because of the rich kids hanging around getting the attention of the party’s female populous. In short, the song won’t let you forget where your from because neither will the world, and in the song he is nostalgically reminiscing over the days of his youth.

Blitz the Ambassador – Make you No forget feat. Seun Kuti

Posted in Ghana, Student Projects

Candy For Your Eyes

Posted on by aero2424x

Blitz the Ambassador. Just from the name you can get the feeling that this man is a well travelled, well versed rapper. Coming from Accra, Ghana he has been in the game since 2000 and has only grown deeper into his craft.  Blitz the Ambassador’s videos are some of the most visual creative I’ve seen. I love them because they tend to tell a story. In his music video “Running” Blitz uses his video to speak on the topic of spirituality. The concept of the video is that you can run from spirituality but you can’t hide from it. The video reflect this message in the story it tells

Continue reading “Candy For Your Eyes” →

Posted in Diaspora, Ghana, Student Projects

Get Your Body Moving

Posted on by brandig22

“Tonight” by African American and Ghanaian artist Prince Kofi is the perfect club bop. As the song came on and the beat dropped, I could not fight the urge to want to dance. The beat rose and fell in all the right places to make your hips move with it, and the way Kofi’s melodic voice danced over the track only made me want to dance more. The song describes an amusing, eventful night that is centered around a tale of cat and mouse. Kofi asserts that he is in need of a particular someone, a need he plans to satisfy by the end of the night. While listening to this song I couldn’t help but picture a man and a woman in a club, both distantly lusting over each other while seemingly having the time of their lives. It made me feel like I was in the club, staring my lover in the eye, daintily asking him to save me from whoever it is I’m “enjoying” at the moment. The song is fun, lively, and describes the perfect weekend experience. It is the song you turn on when it’s Friday and your finally off work or out of school and are ready for for the surprises the night will bring. “Tonight” is not a “woke,” conscious song that speaks about social injustices, which is not outside the norm for Ghanaian artist. But, one thing I could not help but notice was the similarity to U.S. artist, which probably can be attributed to the fact that Prince Kofi is African American. Kofi’s song sounded like an everyday tune, something you hear playing on the radio or as you are browsing through department stores. It’s that feel good, get out of the slumps, and sing to the top of you lungs type of song.

Posted in Female Emcees, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Student Projects

Nigerian, South African/Kenyan connection. The battle of the “Koolest”

Posted on by postsbyaaron

Today on The Hip-Hop African Blog we analyze the comparison between Nigerian rapper Davido’s song “Coolest kid in Africa” featuring, awesome, South African rapper Nasty C and Kenyan pop singer/rapper Stella Mwangi’s song “Koolio.” Both songs are exciting and begin with catchy beats, however, where Davido’s “Coolest kid in Africa” starts low and slow, with heavy bass and a sick trap beat drop, Stella’s “Koolio” picks up the pace with a faster electro-hop beat that is reminiscent of Pitbull’s I” I Know You Want Me.”

In Davido’s song “ Coolest kid in Africa” he describes that the reasons that he is the coolest are that he is both rich and connected, has enough money to change your life, if you let him, and because of the amount of women who choose to accompany him wherever he goes. Whereas, Stella in “Koolio” describes her “Koolness” as a product of her awesome life, which you should already know about, because of her gangsta style, though she does profess to not be a gangsta. Additionally, she suggests that you should not try to hinder her style or movements, because she keeps her Kool cooler that Coolio, which is not only a metaphor for being the pinnacle of coolness, but also a reference to famous 90’s Hip Hop Artist Coolio, who was known for not only his Coolness but his gangsta lifestyle, point of reference “Gangsta’s Paradise.”

The biggest comparison between the two can be found in Nasty C’s verse on the “Coolest kid in Africa” which connects the party vibe of knowing how cool he is, much like how Stella professes her coolness as a fact before the song, to the concept of finding out how cool he is like Davido suggests throughout the song. Two braggadocio songs professing to how cool the other is based on previous memory of their exploits.

Davido – Coolest Kid in Africa (Official Video) ft. Nasty C

STELLA MWANGI – KOOLIO (Official Video)

Posted in Student Projects, Zimbabwe

The Love for music Boxed Up

Posted on by ibcoonteh

The song I selected for this assignment was Studio in the Cemetery by UG Boyko. Boyko music was unique and well put together. The music had some sort of techno beat along with a trap feel to it. Throughout the song, he talks about not being put inside of a studio. Boyko is saying that if he enters the studio he will drop incredible lyrics. He has a great amount of confidence in his music, and one can notice that from his lyrics. He does not care about anything in the world if he has his microphone and studio. Boyko claims that he can teach other artist a couple of things. According to this track, Boyko cares about the studio more than he did attending school. One can tell after listening to the studio in the Cemetery, that Boyko has several women and haters. He describes one of the women that he is dating to have a butt that is as a big as Hippopotamus. He was very descriptive through his lyrics, painting a picture of events for anyone that was not there to witness the events themselves. He also explains through his lyrics that the studio is down in the cemetery. Boyko is at great distress, and smokes to help deal with all issues he has faced in the past with his father. His dad caused him a great amount of pain as a child. In Boyko’s younger years he was timid, and did not make clear life decisions. He has also had to deal with the death of people close to him, which caused him to gain a great amount of pain. Overall, one can really enjoy the song, because it has a great amount of life lessons that are expressed throughout it.