Why Gwamba truly deserves the award for the Best Male hip-hop artist Barely days after the MAM Awards there have been verbal attacks leveled against the winner of the aforementioned category, the young and amazing rapper Gwamba. I not only write this as a fan of Gwamba but also as an aficionado, an enthusiast and a proud listener of Malawian music, and will therefore give astoundingly convincing reasons as to why Gwamba deserved the Award for Best Male Hip-Hop artist. 1. Firstly Gwamba is an amazingly talented rapper who keeps it true to his roots by doing what most rappers are ashamed to do “rapping in Chichewa”. Not only is Gwamba’s music original but it also tackles real issues that affect the average Malawian and he does it so in a way that over 90% percent of the Malawian population would understand; using the vernacular language. A truly vivid example is the song that put Gwamba’s name on almost every Malawian’s mouth, young and old alike, “Bola Kusache”. This song truly marked a breakthrough moment in Hip-Hop as for the first time (this year) people were brought together, regardless of age and ethnicity, by a Hip-hop song which addressed the issues the people related to. In my opinion, no other song in the nominations was better than Gwamba’s in this aspect. 2. People are also attacking Gwamba saying what he does is not “True Hip-hop” as they believe true Hip-hop is “underground “and done in “English”. Not only do I find this statement absurd and unpatriotic but it also broadens my understanding of stupidity at its best. I have listened to both English and Chichewa rap by Malawians, and in my opinion the Chichewa rap is more original. Most of these “English” rappers tend to copy and incorporate “American gangster” life into their lyrics as they think this makes their rap more “underground”. They tend to rap about “money and hoes” (and hoes in this case does not mean “makasu”) which they do not have. Its mostly a fantasy of the American Dream. Rappers like Gwamba on the other hand use Chichewa and tackle real issues revolving around the Malawian Dream. Part of the Malawian dream is wishing for and getting a good girl and explained in Gwamba’s “Tikakumane ku Madzi” and proudly celebrating that love as explained in “Ndiyima Pa Chulu”. This not to take credit from other equally-amazing rappers like Dominant 1, Third Eye, Kananji, Young Kay, Genni Black, just to mention a few. 3. Others are saying Gwamba will not stand the test of time and will be overshadowed if he gets in on a track with the Hip-hop heavyweights. Well, THINK AGAIN. Gwamba has already stood the test of time as demonstrated by the consistent quality of his music from his ground-breaking mix-tape “Ghetto Attitude: The Mix-tape”. He has also taken his stand and also gotten respect from the Hip-hop heavyweights from tracks like “Sindingasiye Bawa” With Young Kay, “Sindidanda remix” with the Daredevils,and many more. This is an impressive CV worthy of a man winning the category of Best Male Hip-hop. With all that said, Gwamba is building a unique and outstanding brand with his name. 4. Some were saying Gwamba raps in Chichewa because he is in uneducated, well get your facts right. Gwamba is currently a Bachelor’s degree holder obtained from the Malawi Adventists University. In fact He is more educated than some of the “underground” rappers who rap in English. 5. I think Gwamba’s win represents a bold statement by the MAM Awards committee to say that Chichewa Hip-hop is an amazing art form that is here to stay. We are patriotic Malawians who will listen to Good Malawian music regardless of the language used .This piece of writing does not aim to split Malawian rappers into two groups, but rather to make them embrace each other and create better music. And in the end, we the fans will be the biggest winners. With that said Congratulations Gwamba for Winning the Award for Best Male Hip-hop Artist. Written By: Chisomo Kamungo - https://facebook/chisomo.r.kamungo
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 10:06:47 +0000
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