Centre Stage: The art of spitting back

Artistes do not always call press conferences or take to the media to respond to issues being discussed about them. Sometimes they respond through music, the medium that made them famous in the first place.

And when they reply through songs, the impact is not always the same among all artistes.

After rapper Khaligraph Jones’ recent freestyle which he released when he was the talk of the town following claims that he had bleached his face, and with the song Jimmy Gait released in response to the many jokes on the social media about the titles of songs he should release, Buzz has gone back to look at songs artistes did to answer critics and whether they achieved the purpose.

Other local artistes who have done such reactionary tracks include Willy Paul, Nonini and rap group Kalamashaka. Internationally, Justin Timberlake and Jay Z released a response song in 2013 while Eminem released one in 2002.

Samora “GKV” Mwamba, a Nairobi-based producer and CEO of Chuo Records, said response songs are good for a musician especially in the digital age where every view on YouTube counts as far as making money is concerned. He urges artistes to employ more creativity when creating such records.

Samora was full of praise for Khaligraph’s song Toa Tint released on May 10. The Friday before that, the rapper had appeared on NTV’s The Trend and viewers noticed that his face was lighter than his hands, which caused an online buzz.

“To me, that’s a good marketing strategy because the song has over 280,000 views; and since he has monetised his account, he has been making money from the adverts that run on that song,” Samora told Buzz.

In the song, Khaligraph responds to the many claims that he had lightened his skin.

The most repeated line in the song is “Khali ametoa tint (Khaligraph has removed his tint)”, which Samora views as an attempt by the rapper to imply that the joke is on the critics.

“By dissing himself, he told himself everything. You can’t diss him again. There is nothing you can say which he didn’t mention,” said Samora.

In the first verse of the song, Khaligraph raps: “Story iko kwa mitandao, ati nakaa ka Defao/ Ati nimetupa mbao juu sura ni rangi ya thao/ They calling me de Adi Bleacher/ Juu ya filter mi huweka kwa picha/ But as long as hii biz inajipa/ Mi sijali na stori za sifa.”

Basically, he addresses the issue about his story becoming the point of discussion then brags that as long as it is bringing him money and fame, he does not care.

Jimmy Gait, in his song Love, also uses the approach of incorporating some of the ridicule he has received into his song. In the video, some of the memes that have been circulating to poke fun at him are displayed, and the singer quotes some of the proposed titles like “patia shetani blue ticks”, “flag-bearer ni Yesu”, “maombi tibim!” among others in his song.

His chorus starts with “mshanikaraga, hadi nikaivana (you have fried me till I got ripe); but what I give you is love”, in what is seen as a conciliatory tone towards his critics.

Part of the description of Jimmy’s song on YouTube reads: “He has been quiet for the longest time and eventually has come to a point of response. His message to everyone that has trolled him positively or negatively is simple: I give you love.”

But unlike Jimmy Gait who chooses humility in his response, Khaligraph fires back by taking a swipe at bloggers, saying that without them peddling information about him “then right now you’d be fired”.

A similarly confrontational tone against the media in a response song can be felt in the song Ngoma Yako by Nonini, released about 10 years ago.

“Critics saa yote ndio hao wanaongeaongea mbaya/ Ati muziki ya Kenya haiwezi penya mpaka Ulaya,” he rapped, complaining about the newspaper pundits of the time who were saying Kenyan music can’t attract audiences in Europe. At around that time, Nonini was the subject of criticism for his lewd lyrics and salacious scenes in his music videos. He was also bitter about what could be perceived to be a misreporting about him.

Somewhere along the song he posed: “Kwa hivyo chali yangu ukiongea na ripota joh chunga/ Sababu media wataandika kitu yoyote joh, kuuza/ Badala hawa mafala wa-appreciate mahali industry imefika/ Wana concentrate hii industry yetu joh kuimaliza.”

At around that time, the rap group Kalamashaka (aka K-Shaka) was incensed by a story done by a local publication about their finances and one rapper in the group spent the last stanza of the song Trouble to hit back.

“Ni lazima retaliation, yaani tunarusha tu,” he started. “Kwani nani hajui ni a common fact kwamba K-Shaka wametoka mbali/ Ati saa hii tuanze kubabaishwa na mapupa ndogo ndogo za maripota flani/ Waki explain vile K-Shaka siku hizi hawana kitu na ati wamesota mtaani,” he rapped.

Willy Paul also spent considerable time in his 2015 song Hukuniacha trying to explain himself on issues that his fans had been raising. In the video of the song, presenter Willy M Tuva was included to make it look like he was responding to interview questions through the song.

“Kama chuki ingekuwa ni bidhaa, wengi wangefaulu kwangu,” raps Willy Paul, to mean that if there was a way of converting the hatred he had been receiving into a commodity, then many could have been rich.

But perhaps the most elaborate song done in response to allegations is Eminem’s 2002 track Sing for a Moment. He managed to package more than 800 words into a five-minute song.

In it, he responded to criticism that his music and conduct were promoting violence among young people.

“But then these critics crucify you, journalists try to burn you/ Fans turn on you, attorneys all want a turn at you/ To get they hands on every dime you have,” he raps.

Further in the second verse, he raps: “It’s all political, if my music is literal/ And I’m a criminal, how the f** can I raise a little girl? / I couldn’t, I wouldn’t be fit to/ You’re full of s** too, Guerrera, that was a fist that hit you.”

Genius, a website that attempts to explain the meaning of rap songs, says that the song was a response to, among others, Eminem being charged with mishandling a gun.

“Eminem went on trial for weapon concealment shortly before this song, when he allegedly pistol-whipped John Guerrera. Guerrera was a bouncer at the club Hot Rocks,” explains Genius.

And in recent years, Jay Z and Justin Timberlake released Holy Grail which was mostly about the love-hate relationship they had with fame.

“Can’t even take my daughter for a walk/ See ’em by the corner store/ I feel like I’m cornered off/ Enough is enough, I’m calling this off,” Jay Z raps of how paparazzi cannot give him peace of mind.

Coming back to Kenya, Samora says more response songs should be released because of the ease of leveraging on the reception of the song.

“The funny thing with Kenyans is that if something trends, somebody will watch it because they have seen someone else post about it,” said Samora, who has produced about 3,000 songs in the past decade, among them Bank Otuch by Vicmass Luodollar.

However, Samora has reservations about gospel artistes responding to the zeitgeist.

“The problem in gospel is that people have responded so much that they have forgotten what gospel really is,” said Samora whose studio is in Nairobi’s Umoja I estate.

The two main things that an artiste should bear in mind before releasing a response song, he said, are the beat and the message.

“Use a commercial beat; the feel-good beats, the bouncy beats that the school-going youth like. If you do a response on a sad beat, it won’t fly. No one will really give a hoot about it,” he said.

He also warned about releasing such songs as a knee-jerk reaction without putting much thought into them.