When the history of Kenyan rap is written, Nyashinki’s verse on ‘tuendelee’ must be somewhere in top five. He directed beasty bars at probably one the best hip hop bands in Africa at the time, Kalamashaka. The tone was deep, combative, he wasn’t shook, he passed as Ogopa’s bad boy with the trigger.
But that with a near uptown swag then would still water down and sing to girls, like he did in swing swing and he is currently doing.
Nyash is more of singer than a rapper now but whenever he drops a verse or one for hip hop, the connection can still be noticed. He is still a good rapper but his ability to sing is the reason he is in sort of a different league. Rappers who can’t sing don’t want to associate themselves with Nyash.
Rapper Octopizzo doesn’t want any comparison with Nyash because he sings. Octo strictly raps he doesn’t sing. American rapper Jadakiss, accused rapper 50 Cent of singing too much that he needed Sisqo beats but Fif’ is a respected figure in rap world because of how he stands out. He can rap, he can sing. His hooks were the best during his prime.
Drake is one of the top entertainers of the time, he is a rap singer. Andre 3000, a hip hop legend who features in any list of hip hop’s top five to ever bless the mic can rap and sing and he does rap and sing and he is accepted and celebrated like that.
Though rap gods like Eminem should not do it, they force it he should not sing but he gets away with it like Kanye does because of their status in the game. Rappers who sing their own hooks are special.
“50 cent was controversial in the streets that the industry was scared to get involved with him while with Heartbreak Drake, the fact that he was a half-Jewish, half-Black, former teen actor from Canada wasn’t exactly looked at as a plus. The most notable similarity between the two acts, though, is their penchant for making hit records using their vocal chords. Believe it or not, both 50 and Drake share the exact same amount of Top 40 songs on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart that features them singing on the track’s hook—14 to be exact” it reads.
Back home Juliani can do a good trial without errors, his ‘utawala’ hit single had a lot of auto-tune massage all over it, but look, the dude sang and the song was big. Many artists around keep off singing, King Kaka will never dare, he prefers employing bongo or Mombasa sing on the hook.
It’s a common thing in rap, Murder Inc was popular with it, most of Ja Rule’s hit songs had either Ashanti or J-Lo on the chorus.
Rappers Ja Rule and DMX went on to occasionally sing with their rugged voice and the industry sort of accepted it but neither of the artists lost his street credibility like underground rappers speculate.
O.G Papa Jones can be beasty, bad to the core, composed, soulful at times and even when he trips further to sing, the dude is melodious.
In minding to stick to the lanes, occasionally rappers should add melody and soul to their own tracks. It consumes some rappers though. Cee-Lo Green is now more of a singer than a rapper, same to Nyashinski.
Rap is a key element of hip hop, a genre that came from the streets, when you lose your ‘street credibility’ as rapper because you sing a lot, rap boys wont respect you but recognise!
