Today I’m revisiting one of my favorite South African Hip Hop artists AKA in an effort to compare his song messages and visual presentation with Drake. This is the second time I’ve written about AKA. I’ve subconsciously find myself gravitating toward his music because he spits in English which is more attractive to me as an American hip hop fan. He also embodies physical and talent similarities to Drake which is why I’ve chosen to compared the two. His track Composure is a braggadocios exclamation point on his ability, appeal and success. With Composure the listener is exposed to the usual formula of success we have come to expect from him. The young MC understands that he has worked his way up to a platform as being a “king” in his own right and Composure is his way of reminding his competition. The visuals for the most part are simplistic yet complex. There are a myriad of effects that can be seen in the video. For example there are over 10 different transition effects in the photo shoot scene yet in the mirrored image scene there are 5 different effects. The result is an earlier AKA at his best.
In 2010 Drake came into his own with his much anticipated album Thank Me Later. The track features an exciting feature from the legendary then incarcerated Lil’ Wayne. The track features a confident early Drake ready to take on all challengers much like AKA above. They both are confident and braggadocios which has been the formula for hip hop since its creation in the late 70’s. Both Artists have similar messages in a sense of their confidence and willingness to succeed without the help of others that initially denied them. Both tracks were released at the beginning of the rise of each artist respectively and the messages in both promise success in their careers.