Priddy Ugly, a South African rapper, has captured me with one of his songs. The title is called “Soil”. This piece of music is so simple but touches upon complex things and thoughts swiftly. Priddy Ugly, in my opinion, is a great lyricist in how he uses two different languages to make a rhyme, and on top of that the words that he configures in a manner that means something and from time to time provoke deep thought or reflection. Some of the lyrics stuck out to me. The first verse alone has a powerful statement. It is said, ” I know some Cali dudes that want to move to Cape Town, Their ancestors are the Africans that they clown, Stay proud, in the states where the slaves found, It’s the same crown if you black or a shade brown.” That alone speaks out on the social interactions of how some African-American people view native African people as less than because of the problems there as if that’s not where they originally came from and America is not built on the back of their ancestors. But the fact at the end he said that “it’s the same crown” means to me that we are all from the same roots and royalty. It continues “See, murder is the case now, bullets on our backs, in the soil where our face found, lay down, Mama’s cry is not a safe sound, The motherland is now the colonizers’ playground.” That touches upon the violence and how there are consequences for actions and family left grieving. Another thing that I got from that was that there has been so much change in Africa that it doesn’t feel like their own as much anymore because of the colonizers making it ready for themselves. Just the beginning of the song provokes so much thought. I believe that Priddy Ugly is more on the side of socially conscious rappers. The music video is also nice and simple. I enjoy the fact that it’s just him getting his hair braided in different scenes because then you focus more on the lyrics.

Music Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GY1fziSP7M