The Hip Hop African

With a track title like “National Address,” it seems like Namibia’s trio, LSD, has something serious to discuss. The opening scene of this video displays a protest with signs saying “don’t beat the women they make the babies” and “stop the violence.” From less than a minute into the video, viewers learn that women in Namibia are facing extreme levels of violence.

As the song progresses, we learn that this track will not just be about gender-based violence. The first rapper suggests that there is no support in his country with the line “y’all don’t have our backs, that’s why I ain’t repping my nation.” We can further deduce that there are problems with the government as the first rapper critiques the president with the lines “how the f**** our president living off of pensions .. I’m angry” and “the system isn’t making people happy.” These critiques are just only at the beginning of the song which suggests that people in Namibia would like systemic change. We are later allowed to see the biggest problems in Namibia as there are two young men holding a sign saying “youth unemployment and corruption Namibia biggest problems.” Since the members of LSD are young men the youth unemployment rate probably aided in their creation of the song and video.

As the next rapper approaches the podium to address the nation in the video, there is a sign being held by a woman that reads “Am I next????” We can understand that gender-based violence is a big problem here as it was already referenced at the beginning of the video. Furthermore, the short yet powerful wording on the small sign indicates that the woman fears for her life due to violence. The second rapper further discusses the corruption that was hinted at previously. With the three back-to-back lines “government doing nothing,” “poverty on the rise politicians getting fatter,” and “n**** I won’t vote cause this s*** ain’t getting better” we can conclude two things. First, the government is not doing enough to provide for their citizens, rather themselves. Secondly, that the people are tired since they do not even want to vote. 

The final rapper approaches as he fixes his clothing ready to address the nation. His opening lines “cops whipping G7s red-blue lights on” and “got n***** scared as s*** cause we tryna get our night on that the country may face police brutality. Later on, he highlights the issue of police and or military brutality when he calls out the Namibian Defence Force and says “NDF trigger-happy.” He also includes examples of their brutality as he states “first they beat a mother,” “then they killed a taxi,” and then we lost a brother.” All these examples are cases in which extreme violence was exerted by an authority.  He also throws a jab at officials as he states “uneducated people being appointed” which further shows that the people of Namibian may not like the officials of the country.

LSD successfully raps about social issues like gender-based violence, poverty, and police and military violence, and political issues like corruption. They do all this as a way to send a message to their government while displaying their rapping talents. 

Check out more of LSD on Twitter, Instagram, SoundClound, Apple Music, Deezer and, Spotify.