Johnny vigeti comes out of hibernation Shooting from the hip

It is a good time to be a rapper in Kenya, people care more about rap music now than they did before. Corporates have fully embraced Kenyan rappers; people are getting endorsement deals and corporate gigs. Generally, the boardroom has accepted the better part of the streets.

Last week alone, a lot of exciting stuff happened around the rap circle, Muthoni DQ took a different visionary route with launching the first ever iConcert series in Kenya plus an album to couple it and so far the response is amazing, Khaligraph and Rabbit each separately released new videos.

Thanks to social media users’ commentary on the Kenyan space, lyrical skillset is becoming popular.

People care about how witty or creative a rapper is on a song, internet has birthed a new generation of music critics.

Rap legends K-Shaka made a musical comeback towards the end of last year and to what seemed more like a stepping stone for Vigeti to launch a solo career, he’s been working on a project with Swedish based producer and artiste Ken Ring.

NEW SCHOOL RAPPERS

Vigeti has always been the stand-out rapper in Kalamashaka, known to many as “your favorite rapper’s favourite rapper”. One of the greatest if not the greatest rap artistes Kenya has ever had, Vigeti has taken the behind-the-curtain stance for a while.

Known to be lyrically aggressive and armed with a stellar rhyme scheme and flow, his verses have always been local rap conversation references.

He stands out on every song he is featured in, a Vigeti verse is more disected than probably any other rappers’; that is just how iconic Johnny Vigeti is in the rap scene.

Vigeti’s first solo album is something people have been begging for and if the recent releases are anything to go by then we will be in for a surprise.

Rap fans got excited last week when Vigeti released a two minute lyrical onslaught titled “Simba”. Vigeti has started to bite, and he took a big chunk out of the “new school” rappers.

It is clear he is here to take over the industry with his “Murder, murder, Ua, ua...” chants. He even calls out two of the top rappers in Kenya today; Khaligraph and Kaka Sungura.

While saying that “Simba” is not a diss track, Vigeti really goes hard on the track and we are impressed. This is a teacher humbling his student, or maybe it is an artiste taking on the bigwigs to generate a little buzz. ‘Simba’ is a statement that people should pay attention to. As much there are several factors for why “beef” is no longer a sincere pursuit it still sticks as a cultural influence for rap.

'Simba' is a spellbinding invocation as much as it is a call to arms. In 'Kichinjio', Kaka Sungura mentions Vigeti, and he gets answered, ‘…janja shinda akina kaka Sungura, watoto wa juzi vichwa vimeanza kufura…’.

This can also be taken as Vigeti creating his own hitlist  because somewhere along the way he mentions another new comer, Smallz Lethal, giving him more of a standing ovation and sends one to Abbas too.

This could pan out in many ways, Khaligraph can decide to reply because at the end of the day rap is a competitive sport, or he can pretend like that didn’t happen, as a sign of respect.

RHYME SKILLSET

But going at Rabbit or Khaligraph for some buzz may not work because the two don’t have enough Buzz to make anyone want to use them to promote their songs.

I believe this is just Vigeti making a statement and in the process making the rap game interesting and exciting, it might also look like Vigeti is being a bully, knowing that no one can defeat him when it comes to the rhyme skillset.

Most of the retorts so far have come from social media, and people are saying the song is unplaced in the current music market, but that’s really what rap music has been for a while.

Vigeti is juxtaposing dichotomies when he raps “…wananyemelea kivuli design ya Luanda Magere…” a reference to the folklore and the legacy of the legendary Luo warrior.

With that line he basically says he is the one who wears the hip hop crown and acknowledges the fact that many new rappers are living in his shadow.

What’s significant here is the clear layout of Vigeti’s sentiments and the direct attack, he doesn’t hold back, and that has been missing in local rap.

He presents himself as the dominant voice of lyricism in Kenya. He is fighting for management of the “who’s king?” narrative, and he’s been a centre of discussion for a long time. Simba is not about who Vigeti cares about and doesn’t, it’s about himself.